February 1, 2008 - Girodivite
01.02.2008
#4 (330)
events of the week:
CORRIDORS OF POWER 3
Latvian diplomat expelled from Russia
Russian exhibit at Auschwitz could be re-opened – Polish ambassador
Russia has contingency plan if Kosovo independence recognized - diplomat
Russia urges Lebanese politicians to tackle disputes through dialogue
Moscow calls for Persian Gulf security organization
Defense expenditures exceed 1 Trillion rubles per year in Russia – legislator
Russia opposes unilateral actions on Kosovo
Russia is Serbia’s main political partner – Nikolic
Federation Council denounces accord with Ukraine on missile attack warning elements
OSCE observers want to come to Russia earlier than 3 days before elections
Russia could use nuclear weapons against another nuclear power aggressor - official
Foreign Minister reiterates Russia’s opposition to U.S. missile defense plans
Western attempts to exert pressure on Belarus are counterproductive –
Russian foreign minister
Putin orders special services to speed up creation of Russia's anti-terrorist system
Moscow inclined to improve relations with Georgia – Lavrov
Russian ombudsman voices concern over recent events in Nazran
ARMY 8
U.S. antimissiles in Poland can become anti-satellite weapon – Russian Defense Ministry
Russian-NATO theater missile defense exercises completed in Germany
Twenty-five Russian armed forces servicemen die in Dec 2007 – Defense Ministry
Air Force starts operating Su-24 bombers after upgrade
Russian Air Force to commission Ansat as training helo
Two more years required for Mi-28N tuning in experimental operation
Russia no longer interested in Ukrainian radars - Defense Ministry
Military judges will not wear shoulder boards - Russian Supreme Court chairman
Russia may restructure forces in Kaliningrad region in response to U.S. missile defense plans
Topol-M road mobile systems will take part in May 9 parade in Moscow
Russian strategic bombers training above Arctic Ocean
Military build-up plans for Kaliningrad region center primarily on Baltic Fleet –
Russian General Staff
Over 5 billion Russian rubles invested in Angara space rocket system construction
Russian strategic bombers out for exercise over Atlantic, Arctic ocean
Russian Air Force airdrops almost 1,000 paratroopers during exercise
Explosion at Krasnoyarsk firing range injures several soldiers
CHECHNYA CAMPAIGN 13
Military prosecutor’s office vehicle comes under fire outside Grozny
Five Russian servicemen killed in Chechnya in Dec 2007 – Defense Ministry
Police officer killed in skirmish in Chechnya
Chechen militant voluntarily surrenders to authorities
One serviceman killed in ambush in Chechnya
Chechen leader rails at Russian commander over botched attack
Military, Chechen govt considering compensation for owners of destroyed homes in accidental shelling
Suspected militant detained in Grozny
Forces of intl terrorism finally defeated in Chechnya - Kadyrov
Volunteer serviceman missing in Chechnya
Chechnya will serve Russia truly, loyally - Kadyrov
Arms cache destroyed in Chechnya's Shali district
LAW ENFORCEMENT 16
U.S. revelations of Sergei Tretyakov are PR based on treachery – Intelligence Service
One-year suspended sentence given to Tyumen resident for racial hatred
Criminal case will not be launched into incident during military exercise in Istra district
Repentant Wahhabi gets one-year suspended sentence in Samara region
Explosion at bus stop in Oryol kills one man
Vladivostok residents plead for help in crime pandemic
A group of youths suspected of promoting extremism in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry budget to grow by third by 2010
Kyrgyz resident killed in Moscow
60 convicted last year for terrorist related crimes – judge
Illegal weapons trafficking activity remains prevalent in Russia - Bastrykin
Over 30 DNA laboratories working in Russia – interior official
Police officer killed in shooting at checkpoint in Ingushetia
Rescuers to try to heave German ship off ground at Vyborg port
Number of illegal migrants in Russia plummets 50% - Romodanovsky
DEFENCE INDUSTRY 20
Proton-M puts Express-AM33 satellite in Earth orbit
Second of three Glonass satellites launched in December goes into service
Company to build new telecom satellite in June
At least four corporations should be engaged in gas turbine engine building in Russia – CEO
GLONASS restoration still lagging behind schedule – manufacturer’s CEO
UAV show in Moscow will give impetus to international cooperation - official
Russia may develop several new spaceships within a decade - cosmonaut
Jammers intended to neutralize U.S. NMD radars on display in Moscow
Damaged cable caused ballistic descent of Russian spacecraft in Oct 2007 - investigation
Sukhoi manufactures 50 billion rubles' worth of products in 2007
Ship with radioactive waste unloaded in St. Petersburg with violations – environmentalists
Saturn’s gas-turbine engine passes acceptance tests
Russian Emergencies Ministry to buy two Mi-8MTV helicopters in 2008
Su-family aircraft exports account for 80% of UAC profits in 2007
Ukraine, China to step up cooperation in space research
16 GLONASS satellites to become operational in a week
New-generation GLONASS satellites to be orbited in 2010
GLONASS signal quality monitoring station to be built in Australia
Space Forces plan to revamp orbital force in near future
Contract on delivering Dan-M targets to Russian Defense Ministry to be signed in near future
Tranzas launches Dozor-2 UAV batch into production
Ivchenko engine-building corporation being established in Zaporizhzhya
MILITARY AND TECHNICAL CO-OPERATION 26
Atomstroyexport confirms delivery of 7th shipment of nuclear fuel to Bushehr NPP
S-300 air defense systems will soon be put on alert in southern Kazakhstan
Europeans buying Russian fire-fighting helos, amphibians
First batch of AI-222-25F supercharged engines delivered to China
New Russian piloted spacecraft will appear before 2015
Back-up crew member for flight to ISS announced
Ukraine ships first two AI-25TLSH engines to China
Ukrainian engine manufacturers stepping up engine production for Yak-130
Ukraine overhauls up to ten D-18T engine for Russian Air Force every year
NEWLY INDEPENDENT STATES 29
Lithuania’s Kaunas Court finds two Soviet secret service agents guilty of genocide
Georgia unveils Strategic Defense Review
Georgian army gradually replacing Kalashnikovs by M4 carbines – deputy foreign minister
NATO mission will assess Georgia’s readiness for NATO entry
CSTO members continue forming anti-drug safety belts around Afghanistan
Moscow’s withdrawal from radar station accord is not a tragedy – Kyiv
Retired Soviet OMON police officer extradited to Lithuania
Azerbaijan honored by NATO PA’s decision to hold Rose Roth Seminar in Baku
Estonian police will have more powers to suppress riots
Sukhumi praises UN Ban Ki-moon’s report on Georgian-Abkhaz conflict
Saakashvili, Kokoity may meet to sign documents on conflict settlement – source
Former Georgian minister released from custody in France
U.S., Kazakh officials discuss ways to broaden military ties
Baku airport officials accused of spying for Russia
Former Georgian Foreign Minister Bezhuashvili appointed intelligence chief
Talks on joint state with Moldova possible - Transdniestrian speaker
Record amount of illegal drugs seized in Tajikistan – source
Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO won’t affect ties with Russia - minister
Suspected terrorist wanted since May 2006 detained in Kyrgyzstan
Kazakhstan studying U.S. request for more troops in Iraq
NATO evaluators note Georgia’s progress toward integration with alliance
Ukraine consistently advancing towards NATO - Yushchenko
U.S., Kazakhstan to sign new 5-year military cooperation plan
NATO pleased with Ukraine's security reforms
U.S. to pay over $17Mln in rent for military base in Kyrgyzstan
Moldova will not join NATO – Voronin
Hand grenade explodes in central Dushanbe: no victims
Lukashenko praises interaction between control bodies of Russia, Belarus
New department at Georgian FM has mission to improve relations with Russia –Saakashvili
Recognition of Kosovo’s independence will put Georgia in difficult situation - Saakashvili
Saakashvili asks ombudsman to head property commission
Kazakhstan, U.S. adopt new plan for military, technical cooperation
TROUBLE SPOTS 38
Saakashvili suggests expanding peacekeepers’ mandate in conflict zones
S. Ossetian settlement initiatives will promote peace in conflict zone - Russian diplomat
Georgian ministerial candidate calls for direct dialogue with Sukhumi, Tskhinvali
Peacekeepers report unlawful Georgian fortification works in South Ossetia
BORDER 39
Customs post begins to work at Russian-Polish border in Kaliningrad
Japanese fishing boats could return home on Friday
Fishing captains held near Kurils handed over to Japan
FOREIGN MILITARY REVIEW 40
Vilnius says U.S. NMD in Poland, Czech Republic would benefit Europe, Russia
China for int’l accord directed against militarization of space
Poland backs Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO – Sikorski
Sale of cemetery with Soviet war graves in Hungary a mistake – diplomat
North Korea nuke talks won’t resume before March – source
In-depth analysis on Russian markets and industries
Corridors of Power
Latvian diplomat expelled from Russia
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - A staff member of the Latvian Embassy in Russia has been declared persona non grata in response to the recent expulsion of a Russian diplomat from Riga.
"The Latvian Ambassador to Moscow Andris Teikmanis was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on January 25. He was told that one of the staff members of the Latvian Embassy in Moscow had been declared persona non grata for acts incompatible with his diplomatic status and damaging Russia's security interests," the Russian Foreign Ministry reports.
"He was ordered to leave the Russian Federation in two days," the ministry said.
Earlier this week, second secretary of the Russian Embassy in Riga Alexander Rogozhkin was expelled from Riga "for actions incompatible with his diplomatic status."
"We are now analyzing the circumstances surrounding this unfriendly step and reserve the right to take appropriate retaliatory measures," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the expulsion was outside the context of the general positive dynamics in bilateral relations.
Latvian Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins said he reckons the expulsion would have a short-term negative impact on relations.
"The decision on further action belongs to the competence of the Russian authorities, who should decide whether to expel any Latvian diplomat in retaliation," he said, adding that all Latvian diplomats strictly observe the provisions of the Vienna convention.
"When we made the decision we evaluated the general context of our bilateral relations. It should not be ruled out that for some short time this episode can leave some imprint on these relations, but I think that we can hardly speak of that on the long term," he said.
Russian exhibit at Auschwitz could be re-opened – Polish ambassador
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian exhibit at the Auschwitz (Oswiecim) museum in Poland could be re-opened, Polish Ambassador to Russia Jerzy Bahr said.
"I think that this exhibit will be re-opened in the new political season, so to speak. I am absolutely sure that both sides have such intensions," Bahr told Interfax on Monday. "We must reach agreement on the details," he said.
"It is a technical problem. I don't see any political problems here,"
the Polish ambassador said.
Earlier reports said that disagreements had emerged between Russia and Poland over the Russian exhibit at the Auschwitz former concentration camp, which was closed in 2005.
It remains closed to this day by decision of the International Oswiecim Council.
The museum management has reportedly agreed to re-open it only if the Russian side recognizes what the management called "occupation" of Polish territories by the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, International Oswiecim Council head Wladyslaw Bartoszewski said the Council did not insist on the word "occupation" in defining the Soviet military presence in Poland.
He said that the exhibit featuring the plight of prisoners from the Soviet Union at the Oswiecim concentration camp remained closed over the words "Soviet citizens," which the organizers of the exhibit used to describe Oswiecim victims from territories controlled by the Red Army in 1930 to 1941.
Russia has contingency plan if Kosovo independence recognized - diplomat
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has a contingency plan in the even the independence of Kosovo is proclaimed unilaterally, Russian envoy to the Balkan region Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said.
Asked at an extended meeting of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee whether Russia has a plan should Kosovo's independence be recognized, the diplomat said, "Yes, it has, and it includes political steps and measures, which I will not disclose now for obvious reasons."
International Affairs Committee head Konstantin Kosachyov told the press that among the main goals of the meeting was finding out whether Russia has devised any response, should Kosovo's independence be recognized unilaterally.
"We wanted to know whether Russia is prepared to respond to the possible recognition of Kosovo's independence quickly and adequately. We have learned now that Serbia has such a plan and that Russia has it, too, but it is not being discussed for obvious reasons. Although, the deputies are in the know," Kosachyov said.
Russia urges Lebanese politicians to tackle disputes through dialogue
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Moscow has expressed concern over the recent developments in Lebanon and urged Lebanese politicians to remain calm.
"Clashes in Beirut against the background of a long drawn-out political crisis and impasse over the election of the president arouse serious concern," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary posted on its website.
"At this dangerous moment juncture we urge all Lebanese political leaders to show restraint and calm. It is important to avoid further escalation and seek solutions to all disputable issues through a dialogue and within the framework of the constitution," the Foreign Ministry said.
The Arab League's position is important for inner Lebanese settlement in connection with the current situation, the ministry said.
Moscow calls for Persian Gulf security organization
MANAMA. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia favors the creation of a Persian Gulf security and cooperation organization as a pillar of post-crisis life in the Middle East.
"The parties concerned should assume a number of commitments guaranteeing stability in the Gulf zone. These include the renunciation of the use of force, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflicts. It's important to come to agreement on arms control and collective struggle against trans-national terrorism," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov said during the Bahrain Dialogue of Civilizations forum in Manama.
He said he believes such ideas "supplement and not substitute international efforts in promoting a settlement in Iraq and other issues."
"The creation of an organization for security and cooperation in the Persian Gulf could be a long-term goal. In future, a collective security system should be an inalienable part of a post-crisis order in the Middle East," the diplomat said.
A comprehensive and just solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict on a universally accepted international legal basis will promote dialogue between the West and the Arab-Islamic world, Saltanov said.
He urged the conflicting parties to get down to real talks, taking into account the positions of all sides.
"Such aspects of the settlement as the liberation of the occupied territories, a halt to settlement activity, refugees, the creation of an independent Palestinian state, and the issue of Jerusalem are quite solvable," the diplomat said.
Defense expenditures exceed 1 Trillion rubles per year in Russia – legislator
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia's defense expenditures have grown more than 3.5 times in six years, head of the State Duma Defense Committee Col. Gen. Viktor Zavarzin told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.
"As of now our defense expenditures exceeded one trillion rubles ($40 bn) and is placed second after intergovernmental fiscal transfers," Zavarzin said.
The growth of the economic and the federal budget allowed us to activate a large scale rearmament program designed up to 2015, the MP said.
Russia opposes unilateral actions on Kosovo
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - A Russian Foreign Ministry official has cautioned the UN secretary general and other partners of Russia against taking unilateral actions on the Kosovo issue and called on them to refrain from taking steps that can create " a destructive precedent."
"We are hoping that the UN general secretary and our partners realize the destructive implications of unilateral scenarios and actions violating the UN Charter and will refrain from taking steps that can create a destructive precedent for international relations," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement released on Tuesday.
"We understand that the European Union wants to play a more active role in the Kosovo issue, but it is only possible if these conditions are fulfilled," says the document.
In particular, any changes in the nature, composition or plan of actions for an international civilian presence in Kosovo will require a new decision by the UN Security Council, says the document. "It will be only possible with the consent of Belgrade and Pristina," says the statement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that "the mandates of international presences in the area were approved under Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council in June 1999.
A civilian presence in Kosovo was created in the form of the UN Mission in Kosovo, which was formed on the basis of "proposals made by the UN secretary general approved by the [UN] Security Council," the statement says.
"Any steps aimed at reformatting the international presence in the territory bypassing the Security Council contradict Resolution 1244, the UN Charter and the universally accepted principles of peacekeeping," says the statement.
Russia is Serbia’s main political partner – Nikolic
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Tomislav Nikolic, presidential candidate from the Serbian Radical Party, said at a meeting with Russia State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov that he sees Russia as the main political partner of Serbia.
As a possible president, Nikolic "will insist on the expansion of cooperation with Russia not only in economics and politics, but also in other areas," said Alexander Babakov, deputy speaker of the State Duma (Spravedlivaya Rossiya faction), who took part in the meeting.
Babakov said Gryzlov and Nikolic had a very constructive conversation, which addressed the February 3 presidential elections in Serbia and the Kosovo situation.
"Mr Nikolic represents the part of the Serbian people who, respecting the sovereignty of Serbia, want to maintain warm and friendly relations with Russia," said Babakov.
Babakov confirmed that Sergei Mironov, leader of Spravedlivaya Rossiya and speaker of the Russian Federation Council, has recently met with Nikolic.
Today's meeting has confirmed that both Russia and Serbia agree that Serbia should stay undivided, said Babakov. He also said that both parties do not want the Kosovo issue to be resolved in the way proposed by some countries, including in Europe, which say that Kosovo should be independent.
The meeting between Nikolic and Gryzlov was held in the State Duma behind closed doors.
Federation Council denounces accord with Ukraine on missile attack warning elements
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The Federation Council denounced a Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental agreement on elements of the missile attack warning and space control system on Wednesday.
The bill denouncing the agreement was drafted at the initiative of the Russian government, which thought that it was inexpedient to maintain the agreement signed on February 28, 1997.
The issue of "the further use of the elements of the missile attack warning and space control system situated in Ukraine" was worked on in line with the 2004 decision of the Russian president, an explanatory note to the bill says. This deals with the radars in Mukachevo and Sevastopol.
"Given the fact that the technical and technological resources of the radars was exhausted in 2005, the Russian Defense Ministry switched the main focus to the use of facilities in Russia, including Murmansk, Pechora, Irkutsk and new missile attack warning facilities in Armavir and Letkhtusi, which are currently under construction," the note says.
According to the document, the fact that Ukraine "has estranged itself from fulfilling is commitments to maintain the readiness of the facilities at Mukachevo and Sevastopol" makes the situation even worse.
The Dnepr radars, which are elements of the missile attack warning and space control system, are Ukraine's property. According to the Russian-Ukrainian agreement the information from these radars, which monitors space over Central and Southern Europe, as well as the Mediterranean Sea, is sent to the central command post of the missile attack warning and space control system in Russia's Solnechnogorsk.
OSCE observers want to come to Russia earlier than 3 days before elections
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) insists that a long-range monitoring mission should be deployed ahead of the Russian presidential elections.
"We have a mandate for long range monitoring. We would like to apply for Russian visas shortly after we receive an invitation from the Russian Central Elections Commission (CEC) so that we can come to Russia as soon as possible," Curtis Budden, the ODIHR acting spokesperson, told Interfax on Wednesday.
OSCE/ODIHR observers will not be able to organize full scale monitoring if they "arrive three days before the elections," he said. "We would like to come at once," Budden said.
If Moscow grants the request, OSCE/ODIHR observers are going to immediately apply for Russia visas and leave for Russia, he said.
A letter, which was sent to the Russian CEC on Tuesday, concerns changing the terms of the monitoring mission, rather than the number of observers, the spokesperson said. "We have asked only to revise the time frame," Budden said.
The CEC press service said on Tuesday that the CEC received the letter signed by OSCE/ODIHR Director, Ambassador Christian Strohal to head of the Russian Central Elections Commission (CEC) Vladimir Churov.
Russia could use nuclear weapons against another nuclear power aggressor - official
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia could use nuclear weapons if another nuclear power attacks it, said Yevgeny Primakov, the president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
"As it is known, Russia's military doctrine stipulates the possibility of using nuclear weapons, while its armed forces are being reduced. But this can happen only if it or its allies are attacked, and only against countries possessing nuclear weapons," Primakov said at the Russia Forum economic conference in Moscow on Wednesday.
"In this respect, our military doctrine does not differ from military doctrines of other nuclear states," he said.
Primakov also expressed his concerns about the U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Europe, "the establishment of American control over Georgia's and Ukraine's policies," NATO enlargement, and the U.S. plans to set up permanent military bases near Russian borders.
"It is difficult to imagine that these steps are being taken to prepare war against Russia. But it is even more difficult to view them as actions to defend against Russian aggression, in which not a single sensible politician believes," he said.
"The only conclusion that can be made here is that these steps are being taken to put pressure on Russia to thwart its efforts to regain its equal and leading role in international affairs," Primakov said.
"This anti-Russian policy increases the chance of a fatal accident. Possibly without anyone's desire, the world has been put on the verge of facing the danger of global confrontation," Primakov said.
Foreign Minister reiterates Russia’s opposition to U.S. missile defense plans
MINSK. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reiterated Russia's negative attitude toward the U.S.' plans to deploy its missile defense elements in East Europe.
"Our position is well known. We don't see any need for deploying the third phase of the U.S. missile defense system for the purposes declared to justify the establishment of this structure," Lavrov said at a press conference in Minsk on Wednesday.
"In order to resolve security problems in a way meeting the needs of the age, it is necessary to talk about establishing truly collective security systems," Lavrov said.
Russia and NATO have agreements under which they are supposed to refrain from steps that could affect the other side's security, he said.
"When these words start being turned into real deeds, I think we will be able to talk about a new architecture of European security," he said.
Western attempts to exert pressure on Belarus are counterproductive – Russian foreign minister
MINSK. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia is concerned over attempts of some Western countries to exert political and economic pressure on Belarus, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference following the results of the joint session between the Russian Foreign Ministry board and the Belarusian Foreign Ministry board.
"We are concerned over the political line of some western nations seeking to put pressure upon Belarus in order to change Belarusian policy," he said.
Moscow sees such attempts as counterproductive, and "Russia has often honestly told this to the U.S. and European partners," he said.
"One should not resolve inevitable problems - including some problems that Russia has with some nations - through pressure but through a dialog based on mutual respect," he said.
Russian-Belarusian interaction has been developing positively, he said.
Putin orders special services to speed up creation of Russia's anti-terrorist system
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Despite the fall in the number of terrorist acts in Russia the threat of terrorism remains high, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at a board meeting of the Federal Security Service and called for speeding up the formation of a comprehensive system of anti-terror security.
"While in the world as a whole the number of terrorist acts is growing, in Russia their number is decreasing two and a half times a year," Putin said.
"We realize how this decline is being achieved," he said.
"In past years the state was incapable of fighting terrorism effectively. The number of terrorist acts was excessive and the audacity of the terrorists unprecedented," Putin said.
He said that the decline in the number of terrorist acts is the achievement of all special services, law enforcement bodies and antiterrorist commissions in the region, but most of all the achievement of the National Antiterrorist Committee.
"The threat of terrorism is still great," he said and bound the special services to speed up the formation of a comprehensive system of Russia's anti-terrorist security.
Moscow inclined to improve relations with Georgia – Lavrov
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke on the phone to new Georgian Foreign Minister David Bakradze and said that Russia is willing to improve relations between Moscow and Tbilisi.
"Lavrov congratulated the Georgian minister with the latter's appointment and confirmed Russian intention to work in a constructive way to improve interstate relations," the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website on Thursday.
Bakradze "said good-neighborly relations with Russia are important for Georgia, and he said that he had chosen to have his first official contacts in his new office with his Russian counterpart," it said.
Bakradze was confirmed as Georgian foreign minister on January 31. The conversation was initiated by the Georgian side, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Russian ombudsman voices concern over recent events in Nazran
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin has expressed concern over the actions of authorities in Ingushetia during the recent events in Nazran.
It is unlawful to justify a crackdown on a public event by "designating part of the city's territory, including the Ploshchad Soglasiya Square (in Nazran), as an area of an anti-terrorist operation, with special security restrictions imposed," Lukin said in a formal statement released in Moscow on Thursday.
"Federal regulations for conducting an anti-terrorist operation allow to impose special restrictions solely to prevent and foil a terrorist attack, to minimize its consequences and protect the vital interests of an individual, the public and the government. However, a decision to impose the restrictions in order to conduct an anti-terrorist operation does not suggest any action to prevent possible offenses," Lukin said.
During the event "no terrorist attack was committed: therefore, there were no legal grounds to designate this area, open to the public, as an anti-terrorist operation zone with restrictions imposed on citizens' constitutional rights and freedom of the media," the Russian ombudsman wrote.
"Therefore, the restrictions on media coverage of the events and the arrests of journalists who allegedly breached the ban on the spreading of information about the special means, techniques and tactics used during the anti-terrorist operation were a violation of Russian laws," Lukin wrote.
"These ideas will be taken into consideration," he said, demanding "a comprehensive inquiry into the events."
Army
U.S. antimissiles in Poland can become anti-satellite weapon – Russian Defense Ministry
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia's Space Force Commander Col. Gen. Vladimir Popovkin said that the U.S. missile shield in Europe increases the military threat.
"Technical characteristics of these missiles [U.S. antimissiles] suggest that they can be used not only as an antimissile weapon but also as an anti-satellite weapon," Popovkin told journalists.
"Our analysis of the antimissile tests in 2006-2007 indicated that the deployment of elements of U.S. missile defense in Europe would pose a real threat to Russia's strategic nuclear forces, despite all the assurances of the U.S. administration," he said.
The general said that the assurances of the U.S. leadership that the missile defense system in Europe is not aimed at Russia "are meant to calm down the broad public in Europe and with the help of the media create a favorable disposition of the leadership in European countries to support the deployment of the said elements in Europe."
Russian-NATO theater missile defense exercises completed in Germany
MOSCOW/BRUSSELS. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian-NATO theater missile defense command post exercises have ended in Germany.
"Taking part in the exercises were 100 servicemen, among them 22 Russian military experts and engineers," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Vyacheslav Sedov told Interfax-AVN.
The exercises were aimed at practicing the planning of interaction between Russian and NATO non-strategic missile defense units during crisis response operations, he said.
The participants coordinated joint actions and analyzed their efficiency, Sedov said. The results of the exercises will be used to determine prospects and possible areas of further interaction on theater missile defense under the auspices of the NATO-Russia Council, Sedov said.
The exercises were held using computer simulation technology, without real weapons and hardware, he said.
Twenty-five Russian armed forces servicemen die in Dec 2007 – Defense Ministry
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Twenty-five servicemen from the Russian armed forces died from crimes and other incidents, including suicides, in December, 2007, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on its website.
Sixteen of these servicemen committed suicide, three died through violating traffic regulations, two others died in other accidents, two fell victims of hazing, one serviceman was unintentionally killed through carelessness, and one more died through inappropriate handling of weapons, it said.
A total of 442 servicemen were killed in the entire 2007. In particular, 224 of them committed suicide, 126 died in accidents, 41 in road crashes, 23 were killed unintentionally, 15 fell victims of hazing, and 13 died through careless handling of weapons.
In addition, the Defense Ministry said 2,441 crimes and accidents were recorded in the armed forces in December and 16,899 crimes and accidents in the entire 2007.
Air Force starts operating Su-24 bombers after upgrade
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The first flights of upgraded Su-24 bombers were performed at the Pereyaslavka airfield of the Far East air force, Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky, a PR aide of the Russian Air Force commander, told Interfax-AVN on Monday.
"The aircraft arrived at the unit on December 24 from Novosibirsk, and on January 26 they flew for the first time," he said, quoting Far East air force commander Lt. Gen. Valery Ivanov, adding that starting in February flights will be performed four times a week.
Representatives of the St. Petersburg research and development institute and Novosibirsk aircraft production association attended the flights, Drobyshevsky said, noting that the flights passed as planned with all tasks fulfilled as planned and no troubles in upgraded aircraft operation revealed.
Russian Air Force to commission Ansat as training helo
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Ansat training helicopters developed by the Kazan helicopter plant are likely to be used for basic training of aircrews at the Syzran helicopter school, Maj. Gen. Viktor Ivanov, the Air Force Army aviation commander, told a news conference on Tuesday.
"The official tests of the Ansat training version is under way. We expect that as soon as they are over, the helicopter will be commissioned for service at our training units for training of cadets in their first and second years of flight training," he said, noting that following the tests the Air Force would place its order for the helicopter.
"I believe we will order at least 25-30 aircraft as the first batch," he added.
It will take another 1.5-2 years to complete the tests, as the design of the helicopter is going to be changed, with a new landing gear and a redundant control system to be installed.
Mi-8 helicopter will remain in service of the Army aviation for at least 25-30 years more. "The latest modifications of the aircraft, including the Mi-8MTV5, are totally redesigned, featuring upgraded cockpit, cockpit management system and radar," the general said.
The Air Force is considering opportunities to adopt the Mi-38 in future to occupy the transport niche between Mi-8 and Mi-26, and also the Ka-60 Kasatka as a training helicopter with the takeoff weight of 6-8 tons.
Two more years required for Mi-28N tuning in experimental operation
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The advanced Mi-28N Night Hunter helicopters, commissioned for service of the Russian Air Force's army aviation, are undergoing experimental operation, Maj. Gen. Viktor Ivanov, the Army aviation commander, told a news conference on Tuesday.
"Two helicopters have been dispatched to the Torzhok training center. At the same time, the final phase of the official trials is under way. I believe that the fin-tuning of the aircraft will be completed in 1.5-2 years," he said.
Retraining of maneuver units' helimen for the new aircraft will be organized in Torzhok, where specialists are developing a dedicated retraining program, he said, noting that the Air Force is also going to adopt Ka-50 and Ka-52 helicopters in the near future. "Mass production of these aircraft is being prepared, and we expect to receive several machines this year to start their experimental operation," he said.
Russia no longer interested in Ukrainian radars - Defense Ministry
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia is no longer interested in Ukrainian radars in Mukachevo and Sevastopol as missile attack early warning and space monitoring systems, Russian State Secretary/Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov said.
"In fact, these radars are almost out of service," Pankov told the Federation Council on Wednesday.
The Federation Council proposed that that Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental agreement on missile attack early warning and space monitoring systems be denounced.
Pankov emphasized that it would not be correct to say that Russia was allegedly withdrawing from Ukraine. "The very term "withdrawal" is unacceptable as far as Ukraine is concerned," Pankov said.
He pointed out that the two radars were manned with neither Russian nor Ukrainian servicemen, since they had been handed over to the Ukrainian National Space Agency.
"We cannot withdraw from a place we have never manned," Pankov said.
Military judges will not wear shoulder boards - Russian Supreme Court chairman
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The decision to transfer military court judges to the civil service is right, Chairman of Russia's Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev said.
"It was decided to abolish the institution of secondment. Although military judges are unlikely to agree with me on this, I believe that a decision to be in connection with a military organization is wrong," Lebedev said at a meeting focusing on the results of the work of Russian courts of law for 2007.
A military judge is the same judge like all federal judges, except that the subject of his consideration is a specialized category of cases concerning military officers, he said.
"The decision to demilitarize military judges, to take off shoulder boards, is absolutely right," Lebedev said.
The former chairman of the Supreme Court's military panel, deputy chairman of the Russian Military Court Anatoly Petrochenkov resigned and appeared as a civil judge before the Federation Council, which appointed him as deputy chairman of the Russian Supreme Court.
Russia may restructure forces in Kaliningrad region in response to U.S.
missile defense plans
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Defense Ministry plans to restructure its military forces in the Kaliningrad region in response to the U.S. plans to deploy its missile defense elements in Europe.
"The General Staff, assisted by our Main Department, is considering how we will structure our forces in the Kaliningrad special district to guarantee the protection of Russian interests," Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, the chief of the Russian armed forces' Main Combat Training and Service Department, told journalists on Wednesday.
"It is not a secret that the visit of the defense minister to Kaliningrad late last year allows us to view the Kaliningrad special district in a new military and political light in relation to U.S. plans on missile defense in Europe," the general said.
Asked whether the Russian northwestern group of forces will be built up, Shamanov said that the "formation of a group is a prerogative of the General Staff and the Russian Security Council."
Topol-M road mobile systems will take part in May 9 parade in Moscow
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Mobile versions of the Topol-M ICBM (SS-20 Sickle) will take part in the military parade in Moscow's Red Square on May 9 this year, chief of the combat training department of the Russian Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov has said.
"A special site replicating the main square of the country has been built in the town of Kalininets near Moscow under a presidential decision to rehearse parades of troops and weaponry. Topol-M ICBM mobile systems will take part in the parade along with other types of modern military hardware," he told the Moscow press on Wednesday.
Russian strategic bombers training above Arctic Ocean
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian strategic bombers were sent to the Arctic Ocean for exercises on Thursday, Aide to the Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Colonel Alexander Drobyshevsky told Interfax-AVN.
"The crews will train reconnaissance, bombardments of enemy ships, air combat and patrolling above the Arctic Ocean," he said.
The Thursday drill involves two Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers, six Tupolev Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, two Ilyushin Il-78 tanker planes, and one A-50 reconnaissance aircraft.
Over all, more than 40 planes will take part in the exercises, including Tupolev Tu-160s, Tu-95MSs and Tu-22M3s, Mikoyan MiG-31s, Sukhoi Su-27s, Ilyushin Il-78s, and A-50s.
"All the flights are being performed in strict compliance with international standards of flights above neutral waters and do not violate foreign borders," he said.
Military build-up plans for Kaliningrad region center primarily on Baltic Fleet –
Russian General Staff
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Defense Ministry is fine-tuning military build-up plans for the Kaliningrad region, which is primarily under the jurisdiction of the Baltic Fleet, Russian First Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Alexander Burutin said.
"The General Staff is clarifying issues concerning military build-up in all strategic border directions, which also include the Kaliningrad region. It is not so much about the Kaliningrad region, as about clarifying the Baltic Fleet's build-up plans reflecting the special status of the Kaliningrad region," Burutin told Interfax-AVN on Thursday.
He was commenting on a statement made by Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, the chief of the Central Department for troops combat training and service, who said that the Russian Defense Ministry was planning to regroup troops in the Kaliningrad special zone in response to U.S. plans to site its third missile launch zone in Europe.
Over 5 billion Russian rubles invested in Angara space rocket system construction
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Space Forces Commander Colonel General Vladimir Popovkin said he was satisfied with progress, made in constructing the Angara space rocket system at the Plesetsk Space Center outside Arkhangelsk.
"A total of over 5.1 billion Russian rubles were invested in the construction from 2002 until 2007. At the same time up to 1.5 billion Russian rubles will be spend on developing Russian space centers every year until 2015 under the special federal program," Popovkin said.
Construction of access roads and railroads, a transformer plant, and a power line accounts for about 40% of the overall cost of the Angara versatile launch system, Popovkin emphasized.
The construction of the technical facilities for preparing launch vehicles is expected to be completed by 2010.
Construction rates will allow the timeframe of Angara flight tests, slated for 2010-2011, to be complied with.
Angara launch vehicles are new generation rockets, powered by oxykerosene rocket engines. Angara family rockets include light and heavy LVs, capable of orbiting cargo weighing from 1.5 tons up to 25 tons. Angara LVs are expected to be lofted from the Plesetsk Space Center, and possibly the Baikonur Space Center, Kazakhstan.
Russian strategic bombers out for exercise over Atlantic, Arctic ocean
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Over 40 aircraft of the Russian Air Force, including Tupolev Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic bombers, are taking part in the active stage of a joint exercise of the Russian Air Force and the Navy on Friday, Air Force spokesman Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky told Interfax-AVN.
"As of 9 a.m. Moscow time, two Tu-160 heavy bombers, two Tu-95MS, eight Tu-22MZ long-range bombers, two Beriev A-50 long-range radiolocation surveillance aircraft, and two Ilyushin Il-78 tanker were in air over the Arctic and Atlantic oceans," Drobyshevsky said.
Four Mikoyan MiG-31 and 12 Sukhoi Su-27 jet fighters escort the Russian strategic bombers, the spokesman said.
"Crewmembers drill reconnaissance tasks, missile and bomb strikes at enemy's offensive naval groups and mid-air fights. They are also involved in air patrolling," Drobyshevsky said.
Russian Air Force airdrops almost 1,000 paratroopers during exercise
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian military airlift aviation airdropped almost 1,000 paratroopers, about ten combat vehicles, and various cargo during the tactical exercise just over outside Pskov, Smolensk, and Novgorod.
"Flight crews trained teamwork, and flight skills during daytime and night airdrops," Aide to the Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Colonel Alexander Drobyshevsky told Interfax-AVN on Friday.
The exercise, headed by Commander of the military airlift aviation Major General Viktor Kachalkin, saw about 20 Il-76 sorties. The exercise involved three air regiments.
Explosion at Krasnoyarsk firing range injures several soldiers
KRASNOYARSK. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Six soldiers were injured in an explosion at one of the military firing ranges in Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Presumably, a landmine exploded during the disposal of ammunition, Krasnoyarsk garrison's military prosecutors told Interfax-Siberia.
Chechnya Campaign
Military prosecutor’s office vehicle comes under fire outside Grozny
GROZNY. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - A military prosecutor's office vehicle came under fire outside Grozny on Friday evening, a Chechen Interior Ministry source told Interfax-AVN.
"Unidentified attackers opened fire at an UAZ vehicle belonging to the military prosecutor's office on the road to Shatoi near the village of Gikalo, 10 kilometers from Grozny, at about seven o'clock in the evening," the source said.
"Two officers from the military prosecutor's office of the Combined Federal Forces in the North Caucasus were wounded in the attack. A serviceman from the Vostok battalion also received a wound to his chest," the source said.
All the victims received first medical aid at the scene and then were taken to the Combined Federal Forces' military hospital. A search for the attackers is under way.
Five Russian servicemen killed in Chechnya in Dec 2007 – Defense Ministry
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Five Russian Defense Ministry servicemen were killed in Chechnya in December 2007, the ministry said on its official website.
Four of these deaths were non-battle losses, it said.
No servicemen went missing in Chechnya in 2007, the ministry said.
A total of 54 Defense Ministry servicemen were killed in Chechnya over the entire 2007.
A total of 3,603 servicemen died in line of duty and 31 went missing in Chechnya in 1999-2006, it said.
Police officer killed in skirmish in Chechnya
GROZNY. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - A district police officer was killed in a clash with an illegal armed group in the mountains in southeastern Chechnya, the Chechen Interior Ministry told Interfax-AVN.
A skirmish with an illegal armed group near the village of Gordali in the Nozhai-Yurt district on Saturday left police officer, Second Lt. Takhir Chalayev of the Baitarki village interior department, fatally wounded, the ministry said.
A search operation was launched to track down the militants, a ministry official said.
Chechen militant voluntarily surrenders to authorities
GROZNY/NALCHIK. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - A resident of Chechnya's Shatoy District has voluntarily surrendered ammunition to law enforcement bodies which he said was found in a forest near the Nikhaloy village.
The surrendered ammunition consists of 600 cartridges for a Kalashnikov machine gun, 20 grenades for a grenade launcher, eight hand grenades, eight shells for a light anti-tank weapon, five TNT devices, and more than 1,200 cartridges for a Kalashnikov assault rifle, the Chechen Interior Ministry told Interfax.
Once the ammunition has been checked, the man who surrendered it will receive a reward provided by the Chechen government.
Meanwhile, a resident of another Chechen district, Urus-Martan, surrendered to the authorities in Chechnya's Vedeno District, having admitted that in 2000 he was a member of an illegal armed group led by field commander Akhmed Zakayev, who operated in the Vedeno District, the Chechen Interior Ministry said. The former militant also surrendered two Kalashnikov assault rifles. An investigation is under way.
Weapons and ammunition that were presumably hidden by militants were found in a forest in Kabardino-Balkariya.
A plastic tube with plugs on both sides contained a 9-millimeter BORZ machine-pistol, F-1 and RGD-5 grenades and 145 5.45-millimeter cartridges," Kabardino-Balkariya's Interior Ministry told Interfax on Sunday.
An investigation is underway to identify the cache owner and its storage purposes.
One serviceman killed in ambush in Chechnya
GROZNY. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - A contract serviceman has been killed in a shootout in Chechnya, a republican Interior Ministry spokesman told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.
A federal task force was ambushed during a special operations in the mountains nearby the village of Bamut of Chechnya's Achkhoi-Martan district last night, he said.
One of the servicemen was killed in the shootout, and three more injured and hospitalized, he added.
Chechen leader rails at Russian commander over botched attack
GROZNY. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov lambasted Russian army forces on Tuesday for an artillery strike the night before that, he said, was "25 kilometers" off the mark and hit a Chechen village, causing no fatalities but serious damage.
According to preliminary accounts, the howitzer fire destroyed three and damaged eight houses in the village of Gekhi, Urus-Martan district, caused multiple ruptures in the local natural gas supply main and broke an power transmission line.
A Chechen government spokesman said there had been a similar incident before. Shells hit houses in the village of Stariye Atagi, Grozny district, as a result of a gun trainer's mistake, he told Interfax.
"In that situation, there was no reason to use artillery, and army special forces should have been used to destroy the gang," Kadyrov said in discussing the Gekhi incident at a meeting with the command of the Russian forces deployed in Chechnya and heads of Chechen law enforcement agencies.
"I can understand it if you are 100 meters, 500 meters, okay 1 kilometer off the mark. But 25 kilometers!" the president said.
"I'm taking the investigation of the incident under personal control and I will make sure it is carried out to the end," he said.
"I believe that it wasn't a mistake or carelessness but a criminal violation of military discipline," Kadyrov said.
In describing the incident to Kadyrov, Lt. Gen. Yury Vinogradov, commander of the armed forces group stationed in the North Caucasus, said a Russian army reconnaissance party had clashed with an unidentified group of militants numbering between eight and ten on the edge of the village of Bamut.
One Russian serviceman was killed and three were heavily wounded in the skirmish, Vinogradov said.
"The howitzer battery was to cut off the militant's presumed routes of retreat into a forested area and toward Ingushetia [a Russian region bordering Chechnya], but as a result of a mistake in targeting the battery it is the village of Gekhi that came under fire," the general said.
Vinogradov said an investigating team including military prosecution service officers and Federal Security Service (FSB) officials was working at the site of the attack. He promised that Kadyrov would be regularly briefed on the probe.
"The incident risks seriously undermining the population's confidence in the government," Kadyrov said.
"People showed confidence in us at the referendum of 2007, at elections at all levels, and what has happened in Gekhi is intolerable," he said.
"The damage inflicted on the population must be made good, there must be a thorough investigation and those guilty must be punished. I demand this of you as guarantor of law," Kadyrov said.
A Chechen government spokesman told Interfax there had been a backlash over the incident throughout Chechnya.
"People are indignant that after the anti-terrorist operation is over they should be suffering from artillery shells bursting," he said.
Military, Chechen govt considering compensation for owners of destroyed homes in accidental shelling
GROZNY. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - A commission comprised of members of the Chechen government and the command of the Combined Federal Forces in the North Caucasus are assessing the damage caused to residents of the village of Gekhi by the explosion of an off-target artillery shell.
Lema Gaisultanov, a first deputy head of the Urus-Martan district administration, said he was among the members of the commission, which includes also Chechen government officials, the Chechen military commandant, the chief of staff of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division, and other specialists, to visit the scene and calculate the damage.
"The military command and the Chechen government commission are trying to agree on an option to compensate for the damage that would be acceptable to the affected families," he said.
"The shell explosion in the village of Gekhi seriously destroyed three houses and partially damaged eleven houses," he said.
Gaisultanov confirmed a report earlier issued by the military command that artillery fire was opened upon a wooded area on the outskirts of the village of Bamut in the Achkhoi-Martan district, but one shell "hit a housing area in the community of Gekhi by mistake."
Akhmed Dakayev, a spokesman for the Chechen government, told Interfax," We have to express our serious regrets over the incident. This is abnormal if shells explode in populated areas in peacetime, considering that the counter-terrorist operation has been completed and peace and order in the republic has been restored."
Suspected militant detained in Grozny
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - A man suspected of being a member of an illegal armed unit and figuring on the federal wanted list was detained in the Zavodskoi district of the Chechen capital city of Grozny on Monday evening, a local law enforcement source told Interfax.
"It turned out that the detainee, who was a member of a bandit group, was on the federal wanted list. Law enforcement agencies are now conducting additional inquiries to see whether the suspect may have committed crimes while being wanted," the source said.
The man is suspected of having been a member of a unit led by the so-called 'field commander' Ruslan Tuturbekov, who was killed in Dagestan in January this year, the Chechen Interior Ministry told Interfax. "Lechi Khozhmagomayev, a member of an illegal armed unit, was detained 50 meters from the outskirts of the community of Dattykh after 2:00 a.m. Moscow time. An F-1 grenade was found in his possession and confiscated," it said.
Police also detained another man suspected of aiding and abetting militants in Kizil-Yurt in Dagestan on Tuesday. The unemployed man, who was detained at his home, is suspected of supplying members of an illegal armed unit with ammunition and helping them store it in October 2007, a law enforcement source said.
"Security forces are interrogating the detainee now," the source said.
Forces of intl terrorism finally defeated in Chechnya - Kadyrov
GROZNY. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - A crushing blow has been dealt in Chechnya to the forces of international terrorism - a blow from which they will never recover and which will not allow them to set the clock back, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said.
"Everyone knows today that terrorists from 51 countries were in Chechnya. It's not fiction, it's a fact, voiced by the country's supreme leadership. I am saying in all seriousness: these forces have been utterly defeated. I would also like to note that neither terrorists, nor members of criminal armed groups will be able to prevent the Chechen people from building a peaceful life," Kadyrov said at an online news conference in Wednesday.
"Again, no one - whatever the country he arrives from in Chechnya - will succeed in staging terror attacks or taking the lives of civilians. We are Muslims, we profess Islam and no one should try to teach us how we should do this. Those who kept arriving here attempted to force their ideology and outlook on us. All this is a thing of the past. Those who venture to divert the Chechen people from a path of peaceful life are profoundly mistaken and will come to their bitter end in Chechnya," Kadyrov said.
Volunteer serviceman missing in Chechnya
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - A volunteer serviceman is missing in Chechnya and the fear is that he has been abducted, a law enforcement source told Interfax on Thursday.
The incident occurred near the community of Chishki in the Urus-Martan district, "when four servicemen from the Interior Forces' military commandant office stopped for a rest in a forest during a reconnaissance operation," the source said.
"Following the abduction of one of the four servicemen, his Kalashnikov machine-gun and ammunition were found," the source said.
Law enforcement agencies are intensively searching for the missing serviceman.
Chechnya will serve Russia truly, loyally - Kadyrov
GROZNY. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The Chechen people will remain staunch defenders of Russia's interests, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said.
"I state with all responsibility -- and my conclusions are based on historical data -- that the Chechen people have always lived in peace and accord with Russia and Russian ethnic groups. Never had there been any armed conflicts, wars or quarrels between the Chechen people and the Russian people. All this was forced on us by third forces and this must never happen again," Kadyrov said during an Internet conference last Wednesday.
"Chechnya has always defended Russia's interests, and from now on the Chechen people and Chechnya itself will serve Russia truly and loyally, because only a strong union between all people of Russia can create a path towards the country's prosperity, its turning into a great world power," Kadyrov said.
"In various countries there are still the so-called former representatives of Ichkeriya who are trying to prevent us from reviving Chechnya at a fast pace. They are spreading various myths, but they will not succeed," Kadyrov said.
The Chechen people enjoy full freedom as part of the Russian Federation, he said.
"The Chechen people have made their choice. Chechnya is part of Russia. I am the legitimate leader of this republic, and I can say with all responsibility that there is a power in Chechnya that cares about the people, that addresses people's concerns and is doing everything for peace, calm and order in the republic," Kadyrov said.
Kadyrov was responding to a question from a Chechen now living in Austria who asked: "When will Chechnya free itself and have its own leader?"
Arms cache destroyed in Chechnya's Shali district
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Chechen law-enforcement officers destroyed a large arms cache at the premises of a former tinned food plant in Chechnya's Shali district.
"The arms cache stored an RPG-26 Mukha rocket launcher, over 3,000 machine gun rounds, seven fuses, two muzzles for heavy air defense machine guns, and three improvised explosive devices," the official web site of the Russian Interior Ministry quoted the Chechen Operations Headquarters press-center as saying.
The arms cache was found during a sweeping operation outside a village of Avtury.
Law Enforcement
U.S. revelations of Sergei Tretyakov are PR based on treachery – Intelligence Service
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The press service of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) treat media statements by former SVR officer Sergei Tretyakov who fled to the United States in 2000 as "PR based on treachery."
Comrade J. by Pete Earley was published in the U.S. on January 24. The author alleges that the book is based on conversations with Tretyakov.
"We ignore all so-called revelations made in the book on the head of Tretyakov and stress the fact that 'PR based on treachery' has always been disgusting and the treachery itself is a crime," the press service said in a statement.
According to the statement, "the press service is not going to comment on this information any more."
"Tretyakov, a Russian citizen, left for the U.S. with his family in 2000, writing a statement saying that "his retirement will not damage the country's interests." According to the press service statement, Tretyakov then refused to meet with any official representatives of Russia.
One-year suspended sentence given to Tyumen resident for racial hatred
TYUMEN. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The Tyumen Leninsky District Court has passed a one-year suspended sentence to 19-year-old Sergei Shipulin for disseminating leaflets around the city that affirmed the superiority of the white race.
Shipulin was found guilty of inciting racially motivated hatred and the humiliation of dignity, the regional prosecutor's office said on Monday.
"Shipulin was distributing extremist leaflets from May through July 2007. Being a supporter of nationalist-minded skinheads, he disliked non-Russians. He printed about 40 leaflets and stuck them to the walls of an apartment house, a childcare center and a police station on Parfyonov Street," the office said.
"The court took into consideration the seriousness of the crime, the repentance and the confession of the suspect," the office said.
Criminal case will not be launched into incident during military exercise in Istra district
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - A criminal case into an incident in the Istra district of the Moscow region where a mine clearing operation caused damage to a wall of a country house during a recent exercise of the Russian Defense Ministry will not be opened, a source with the military investigation department of the Investigative Committee in the Moscow military district told Interfax-AVN on Monday.
"It was decided after a check that the criminal case will not be opened as the incident shows no elements of a crime," the source said.
Repentant Wahhabi gets one-year suspended sentence in Samara region
SAMARA. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Syzran Court in Samara region gave a one-year suspended sentence to Adylsh Bakhteyev after he was found guilty of incitement to racial and religious hatred, the Samara regional prosecutor's office has said.
Bakhteyev began studying Sunni Islam, an untraditional strand of Islam in Russia, in 2000 and decided to spread that teaching in Syzran, the office said.
"He made several visits to Samara, Ulyanovsk and Buguruslan to buy religious books related to Wahhabism. The books contained humiliating and negative assessments of Jews, Christians and Muslims unaffiliated to the radical Islamic strand of Wahhabism," the office said.
Afterwards, Bakhteyev started preaching Wahhabism in his home. He had a prayer room and a library and regularly gathered groups of Muslims to spread religious hatred.
He fully admitted his guilt and repented in court.
Explosion at bus stop in Oryol kills one man
ORYOL. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - An explosion occurred at a public transport stop in Sovetsky District in the town of Oryol at around 5 a.m. on Tuesday, chief spokesperson for the Oryol Regional Police Department Marina Kostikova told Interfax-AVN.
"An unidentified explosive device has denoted, as a result one person died, he is currently being identified," she said.
Vladivostok residents plead for help in crime pandemic
VLADIVOSTOK. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Residents of Vladivostok, members of public organizations and honored members of the public have asked the country's president for help after First Deputy Governor of the Primorsky Territory Sergei Sopchuk was assaulted.
"We are compelled to ask you to save Vladivostok from a crime pandemic," the letter said.
"All residents' rights to a safe and comfortable life in the capital city of the Primorsky Territory are being grossly and cruelly violated," the authors said.
The events of January 28, 2008 [the assault on First Deputy Governor of the Primorsky Territory Sergei Sopchuk] have once again shown that, "our law enforcement bodies are not only unable to ensure the safety of common residents of the Primorsky Territory, they are also unable to protect the local officials."
"We have no doubt that this horrible crime has something to do with Sopchuk's professional activity," the letter said.
"Criminal groups infiltrating into local governments are trying to control the economy of the Primorsky Territory and have once again proved that they are still strong," the authors said.
"Instead of being the capital city of the Asian Pacific Region, a city which will host the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit, Vladivostok risks turning into a criminal capital of the Far East. This outrageous crime must be urgently investigated, or it will be too late," the letter said.
It was reported earlier that First Deputy Governor of the Primorsky Territory Sopchuk was shot twice outside his house in the morning on January 28. He was taken to a hospital and operated on. Doctors said his injuries are not life threatening.
A criminal case was launched over the incident on charges of attempted murder. A group of special investigators took charge of the case inquiry.
Presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Oleg Safonov personally took control of the investigation.
A group of youths suspected of promoting extremism in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk investigative department is probing the activity of a group of young people, members of the Slavonic Brotherhood organization, who encouraged extremist behavior.
A criminal case on charges of public appeals for extremist activity and hatred was opened on January 17, 2008, a source with the Sakhalin department of the Investigative Committee told Interfax-AVN.
"The Sakhalin regional department of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) found a web site with Nazi symbols. The site contained calls for extremist activity, hatred and violence against non-Slavs," the source said.
Five young people aged from 22 to 29 were questioned during the case. One of them is a bank employee, one more is unemployed and the others are students. All of them signed a written pledge not to leave.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry budget to grow by third by 2010
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The budget of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry will exceed 100 billion rubles by 2010, Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a report made at a meeting summing up the ministry's performance in 2007.
"This year, the ministry's budget was increased threefold against 2005 and reached 78.5 billion rubles. By 2010, the budget will be increased by one-third and will exceed 100 billion rubles," said Shoigu.
In 2007, 22 regions of Russia affected by emergencies received a total of 5.4 billion rubles in aid from the Russian government's reserve fund, he said.
Shoigu said over 80,000 people have received one-time payments and some 10,000 Russians received housing certificates.
"Virtually all regions of Russia have reserves needed for dealing with the consequences of emergencies. Their total amount is 12.8 billion rubles," said Shoigu.
Kyrgyz resident killed in Moscow
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - A man was killed in an attack on two Kyrgyz residents, a source with the Moscow law enforcement agencies told Interfax on Wednesday.
Three unknown people attacked a man and a woman, both residents of Kyrgyzstan, inflicting stab wounds near 67 Shokalsky side-street, the source said. As a result the man died at the scene and the woman was hospitalized.
A criminal case was opened into the incident. Police are searching for the criminals.
60 convicted last year for terrorist related crimes – judge
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The number of criminal cases opened into terrorism related crimes heard at Russian courts in 2007 doubled, with 60 having been sentenced for such crimes, chairman of the Russian Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev said at an all-Russian conference of judges in Moscow on Wednesday.
A total of 3,200 people were convicted for bribery in 2007, he said.
"Some 935,000 people were sentenced for criminal offences and 10,415 were acquitted," Lebedev said.
Sixty percent of acquittals were made in private prosecution cases, while the rest were made mainly because of the conciliation of parties, the judge said. Courts terminated criminal cases against 350,000 people, which is 10% lower than last year, he said.
In total, 8.6 million civil, over 1.1 million criminal and over five million administrative cases were heard in 2007, Lebedev said.
According to Lebedev, 42% guilty verdicts provided for suspended sentences. "Regretfully, such type of punishment as corrective labor was not widely used - some 4%," he said.
A total of 92% those convicted for serious crimes were imprisoned, the figure is 47% for those who committed less serious crimes, and 11% for misdemeanors, the judge said.
Illegal weapons trafficking activity remains prevalent in Russia - Bastrykin
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Fourteen thousand crimes were committed with the use of weapons in Russia in 2007, head of the Russian Prosecution Investigative Committee (PIC) Alexander Bastrykin said.
"The level of illegal weapons trafficking, theft of ammunition and explosives is not going down. In 2007, 14,000 crimes were committed with the use of weapons," Bastrykin said at a PIC meeting on Thursday.
"More then 3,000 murders and attempted murders remain unresolved, almost 10,500 cases in which severe damage to the health of individuals was caused intentionally and over a third of unresolved murders were registered in Karachayevo-Cherkessiya, Tuva, and Kirov region," he said.
Over 30 DNA laboratories working in Russia – interior official
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Interior Ministry has completed the establishment of a network of special forensic DNA testing laboratories across Russia, Deputy Interior Minister Mikhail Sukhodolsky said.
"The work of setting up a network of DNA laboratories started in 2005. Today we can say that this work has been completed, with 34 such laboratories working across Russia," Sukhodolsky told journalists on Thursday, adding that the network of laboratories covers all units of interior security agencies.
Over the past three years, around 200 laboratories able to perform new types of forensic tests have been opened for interior security agencies.
The interior ministry is buying new equipment under an armament program that runs until 2015.
Police officer killed in shooting at checkpoint in Ingushetia
MOSCOW/ROSTOV-ON-DON/MAKHACHKALA. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Unidentified people opened fire at a Road Patrol Service checkpoint near the village of Ekazhevo in Ingushetia's Nazran district Wednesday evening, the headquarters of the Combined Grouping of Troops in the North Caucasus told Interfax-South on Thursday.
"As a result of the shooting one police officer was fatally wounded and died later in hospital, another one was injured," a source said.
A criminal case has been launched over the shooting incident, the search for the perpetrators is under way.
Officers of the local branch of the Federal Security Service (FSB) killed two militants while attempting to detain them near Ekazhevo.
"During the detention the militants offered armed resistance and were neutralized with return fire," the source said.
A suspected member of an illegal armed group has been detained in Chechnya, a source in law enforcement said on Thursday.
The militant was detained the day before in the Urus-Martan district, the source said. A search of his house yielded weapons and cartridges.
A man suspected of helping militants was detained in the village of Baitarka in Chechnya's Nozhai-Yurt district. The man provided food to members of an illegal armed group.
A cache with weapons and ammunition was found in the village of Gimry in Dagestan's Untsukul district.
The cache was located with the help of militants who surrendered to the authorities, the Dagestan Interior Ministry told Interfax.
Rescuers to try to heave German ship off ground at Vyborg port
ST. PETERSBURG. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Rescue experts will make an attempt to bring a German vessel afloat after it ran aground at the Vyborg port in the Leningrad region, Leonid Belov, the chief of the local rescue coordination center, told Interfax.
"The rescue boat Yasny approached the vessel RMS Saima early on Thursday, and divers examined a hole in its left board and damage to its fore in the morning. A decision was made to use compressors to pump water out and try to heave the vessel off the ground," Belov said.
"I believe we will try to bring the RMS Saima afloat by the end of Thursday," he said.
It was reported earlier that the RMS Saima carrying cellulose ran aground at the Vyborg port on January 27. The vessel, which heading for a Belgian port under the Antigua and Barbuda flag, deviated from its course and hit the ground while leaving the Saimaa Canal. The vessel had a minor hole to its board. No fuel was spilt, and the cargo was not damaged. None of the crew, who are mainly Russian citizens, were hurt.
Number of illegal migrants in Russia plummets 50% - Romodanovsky
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The number of illegal migrants in Russia has plummeted by 50%, chief of the Federal Migration Service Colonel General Konstantin Romodanovsky told Interfax on Thursday.
"There are no absolute figures on illegal migrants - nobody know anything about them because they are illegal. Earlier, their number was put at 10-15 million. Today, we have slashed it by half," Romodanovsky said.
Simultaneously, the number of foreigners working in Russia on a legal basis has grown, he said.
"Last year, the number of deported foreign citizens was down by 47% as compared to 2006. The number of foreigners whom administrative lawsuits were brought against for violations of the migration law dropped by 20%. We see that the number of foreign citizens legally staying or working in Russia has sharply increased," Romodanovsky said.
"In 2007, about 8 million foreign workers were officially registered in Russia. More than 2 million foreigners received permission to work in Russia, compared with about 600,000 work permits issued in 2006. Tax collections have increased. Salaries have grown. The Russian migration law is working," he said.
Defence Industry
Proton-M puts Express-AM33 satellite in Earth orbit
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - A Proton-M rocket has inserted the Briz-M upper stage and Express AM33, a Russian telecommunication satellite, in the Earth's orbit.
"The upper stage will put the satellite in the designated orbit by several impulses of engine units," the Khrunichev Space Research and Production Center told Interfax-AVN.
The Proton-M rocket carrying the satellite was launched from the Baikonur spaceport at 3.17 a.m. Moscow time on Monday.
Proton-M is the enhanced version of the Proton-K carrier. It features more efficient engines on the first stage, updated avionics, and improved fuel tanks. The first proton-M launch took place in 2001.
Satellites of the Express series are made by the Reshetnev research and production corporation in cooperation with Thales Alenia Space, with Reshetnev in charge of the satellite platform and Thales Alenia Space's French division - the payload module.
The Express-AM33 satellite differs from the previous satellites of the Express-AM series in that it has a greater output rating and new antennas.
The satellite's launch weight is about 2,600 kilograms and its minimal guaranteed service life in orbit is 12 years. The satellite will provide communication, TV broadcast, multimedia, data transmission, and mobile governmental and presidential communication services.
As of now there are seven satellites of the Express series in the orbit. They are Express-A2, -A3, -A4, -AM22, -AM1, -AM2, and AM3.
Second of three Glonass satellites launched in December goes into service
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The second of the three Glonass-M satellites developed and built by the Applied Mechanics Research and Production Corporation (Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk territory) and launched from Baikonur on December 25, 2007, has gone into operation.
Russia's Glonass satellite navigation system comprises 16 satellites, 14 of which are in operation. One is temporarily out of service for technical maintenance.
Another satellite, launched on December 25, 2007, is being made ready for operation.
The Glonass global satellite navigation system, an analogue of the U.S.' GPS, is intended for land, sea, air and space users of navigation information and provides exact time signals.
Company to build new telecom satellite in June
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The Express AM-44 telecom satellite will be ready to fly in June, said Alexander Dostavalov, the Express-AM program manager at the Zheleznogorsk-based applied mechanics research and production association.
"Under the state contract, we are to build the satellite by June 2008," he told Interfax-AVN after the successful launch of the Express AM-33 satellite.
Express AM series of satellites are being built by the association as part of the federal space program. They are intended to transmit digital TV broadcasts, radio programs, and provide fixed and mobile communications, entrance to Internet and governmental communications.
The Express AM-33 carries 29 transponders of C, Ku and L bands.
At the present time there are seven Express series satellites in orbit, including Express A2, -A3, A-4, -AM22, -AM1, -AM2 and -AM3.
At least four corporations should be engaged in gas turbine engine building in Russia – CEO
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - No monopoly is admissible as far as gas turbine engine building in Russia is concerned, said Salyut research and production company's CEO Yury Yeliseev.
"Strategically, there should be at least four such corporations. It is my firm standpoint, which I have voiced repeatedly. I believe that a united air engine building corporation will be a crime against the state, because we badly need that a competitive mediums is retained," he told the Vremya Novostey newspaper, noting that like the advertising is the propelling force of trade, the competition is the propelling force of progress.
He recalled that Salyut is being transformed into an integrated structure, which is an important step for Russia to retain its positions as a leader in gas turbine engine building in the world.
The restructuring efforts are under way in the sector, there is no denying, he said, adding that this does not mean that Salyut had been given any preference in any particular project. "Salyut will take part in the contest for the engine to propel the fifth-generation fighter on equal principles with other contenders," Yeliseev said.
"Somebody will win, but it will not mean that the others will step down from the scene, because we will all work together," he added.
"This is a world practice. The winner gets the right to coordinate efforts and mass-produce end products. I believe that it would be impossible for one integrated structure to develop a new engine, because we will need the whole potential Russia has. And maybe not only Russia," he said.
GLONASS restoration still lagging behind schedule – manufacturer’s CEO
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The program to restore the GLONASS space navigation system is out of the schedule, thinks Nikolai Testoedov, the CEO and Designer General of the Zheleznogorsk-based applied mechanics research and production association.
"First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov's calling the progress of the GLONASS revival unsatisfactory was right," he said in a statement on company's website.
There are 16 Glonass and Glonass-M satellites in orbit now, rather than 18 planned, he said, noting that only 13 are operational, and the rest are expected to be commissioned by February 10.
Furthermore, the work to improve accuracy of positioning is also lagging behind the schedule. "There are still no navigation receivers of Russian origin at our shops, which can receive both GLONASS and GPS signals," he said, adding that the problem is sure to be resolved by 2009, when GLONASS will have the required operational capability to cover 95% of Russia and 83% of the world.
Those who will have combined GLONASS/GPS receivers have the most brilliant opportunities, as the 40 satellites of the two satellite navigation systems provide a 150% global positioning opportunity.
UAV show in Moscow will give impetus to international cooperation - official
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The second international forum and the exhibition of multipurpose unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for the energy sector opened in Moscow on Tuesday.
"The number of companies taking part in the exhibition grew to 47 compared to last year's show. Representatives of over 70 companies and institutions are expected to participate in the international forum," Valery Voskoboinikov, senior official from the Industry and Energy Ministry, said at the opening of the forum.
He voiced confidence that the forum and exhibition "will be successful and give an additional impetus to the interaction of Russian and foreign manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles promoting the further development of multipurpose unmanned systems."
Russia may develop several new spaceships within a decade - cosmonaut
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia will need new spaceships of different types to carry out various tasks in space, Deputy General Designer of Energia Rocket and Space Corporation and cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov has said.
"It is impossible to develop a spaceship that would be equally suitable for missions to the Moon and Mars and for flights in terrestrial space. Therefore I do not rule out the possibility that several, not one piloted spacecraft will be built," he told Interfax after taking part in readings on cosmonautics at the Bauman Technical University in Moscow on Tuesday.
He said several options of a new spacecraft to replace the old Soyuz are now being considered.
"The design has not been chosen yet. We think the spaceship will be built for the new cosmodrome that is being developed in the Far East. A six-seater is now being discussed but it is possible that it will be designed for a crew of seven," Krikalyov said.
He said that the task of developing new spaceships by 2015 is quite feasible.
Jammers intended to neutralize U.S. NMD radars on display in Moscow
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has developed equipment capable of countering elements of the United States' national missile defense system, should they be positioned in Eastern Europe.
Jamming equipment intended to neutralize radars of the U.S. missile defense system are on display at an exhibit of multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV,) which opened in Moscow on Tuesday.
"The U.S. missile defense system can be neutralized with jammers installed in unmanned aerial vehicles," a spokesman for the Aviakonversia company, Moscow, told Interfax on Tuesday.
The Aviakonversia-developed jammers, on display at an exhibit of unmanned multi- purpose vehicles, create several hundred dummy targets that cannot be distinguished from real ones.
"It will be impossible, if such jammers are in operation, to spot the real targets, determine their location and launch missiles quickly," he said.
The jammers can provide interference in the frequencies used by early-warning and antimissile guiding radars of the U.S. missile defense system, the spokesman said.
Damaged cable caused ballistic descent of Russian spacecraft in Oct 2007 - investigation
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The commission investigating the reasons behind Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft's flawed landing in October 2007 has completed its work, Energia space rocket corporation head Vitaly Lopota told journalists on Tuesday.
"The ballistic re-entry was caused by a defect in a cable in the control system," Lopota said.
The damaged cable connected the spacecraft's control panel to its onboard equipment, which caused the spacecraft to descend from orbit along a steeper trajectory and experience higher g-load than usual, Lopota said.
"All possible measures have been taken to rule out such situations in the future," Lopota said.
Soyuz TMA-10 was used to return Oleg Kotov and Fyodor Yurchikhin, crewmembers of Expedition 15, to the International Space Station, and also first Malaysian astronaut Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor to Earth on October 21, 2007. As the descent followed a ballistic trajectory, the crew experienced g-load reaching 8-9 instead of the planned 3-4, and the landing capsule touched down about 70 kilometers off the planned landing site.
Speaking at a post-flight press conference at Zvyozdny Gorodok (Star City) outside Moscow, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor said he had little time to be scared during the ballistic descent. The landing capsule overturned, and the crew were approaching Earth upside down, he said. "As for the very fact of the ballistic descent, this did not scare me because everything ended very quickly," he said.
Sukhoi manufactures 50 billion rubles' worth of products in 2007
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The Sukhoi Aircraft Holding Company has summed up preliminary financial results of 2007, the Sukhoi press-service said.
"The output has exceeded 50 billion Russian rubles, which is 2.6-fold greater y-o-y 2006 (19.5 billion Russian rubles)," the press-service told Interfax-AVN on Wednesday.
The figure accounts for over 50% of the profits, derived by the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).
"The company gained profits through deliveries of new Su-34s, overhauling and upgrading Su-27SMs, Su-24Ms, and Su-33s under the state defense order," the press-service said.
In particular, Sukhoi exported Su-30MK2, Su-30MKM, and Su-30MKI fighters, as well as their spare parts, components, and assemblies inn 2007.
Ship with radioactive waste unloaded in St. Petersburg with violations – environmentalists
ST. PETERSBURG. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The unloading of MV Schouwenbank, a German vessel carrying radioactive waste, has begun at the St. Petersburg port, the Belona environmental organization said in a statement.
The ship began to unload "only six days after the ship entered the St. Petersburg port," the statement says.
"This is a record delay for ships that enter the St. Petersburg port with radioactive waste," the statement says.
According to the Russian legislation, a consignee must remove the cargo from the territory of the port as soon as possible,' Olga Krivonos, a lawyer for Belona, said in the statement.
MV Schouwenbank is able to carry about 2,000 tonnes of radioactive and toxic waste from the uranium enrichment process.
The waste cargo was shipped to Russia from Urenco's enterprises in Germany's Granau and the Netherlands' Almelo. Containers with nuclear waste will be delivered to the village of Kapitolovo near St. Petersburg, where they will be loaded onto container cars and dispatched to the town of Novouralsk, Sverdlovsk region.
Saturn’s gas-turbine engine passes acceptance tests
RYBINSK, Yaroslavl region. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The acceptance interagency tests of the GTA-8RM gas turbine engine prototype have completed, the power plant developed and produced by the Saturn research and production company, its press service reports on Wednesday.
"Following the tests the interagency commission agreed that the power unit complies with the requirements specified," reads the press release, received by Interfax-AVN.
The GTA-8RM is an 8MW power plant, designed to provide electric power to operators in the oil and gas industry, other energy-consuming enterprises and utility services.
Russian Emergencies Ministry to buy two Mi-8MTV helicopters in 2008
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Emergencies Ministry aviation will field two new Mi-8MTV-1 helicopters, head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry aviation Lieutenant General Rafail Zakirov said.
"The procurement of the two helicopters is envisioned by the state defense order for 2008," Zakirov told Interfax-AVN. According to him, the Russian Emergencies Ministry did not buy any aircraft or helicopters, but overhauled two Mi-8MTVs and two Mi-26s last year.
"This year we plan to overhaul a Mi-26 and two Mi-8MTVs as well," he said.
Aircraft are procured under the current strategy of developing the Russian Emergencies Ministry aviation until 2010, Zakirov emphasized.
"The strategy envisions enlarging the Mi-8 helicopter fleet from 20 to 30 aircraft. With this end in view, we plan to purchase one to two helicopters a year," Zakirov said.
According to him, the Russian Emergencies Ministry has submitted a proposal on using Ansat and Ka-226 helicopters for providing first medical aid on the roads to the Russian government for consideration.
"No new aircraft are expected to be procured until 2010," Zakirov said.
Su-family aircraft exports account for 80% of UAC profits in 2007
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) derived over 80% of its profits by exporting Su-family aircraft, the press-service of the Sukhoi Aircraft Holding Company says.
"Russia exported about 50 aircraft to its foreign partners last year," the press-service told Interfax-AVN on Thursday.
"In 2006 national arms exports totaled $6.46 billion. Last year aircraft exports, first and foremost, deliveries of Su-30-family multi-role fighters, accounted for the lion's share of profits gained," the press-service said.
Ukraine, China to step up cooperation in space research
KYIV. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Ukraine and China are ready to step up cooperation in space research and Earth monitoring from space, the Ukrainian National Space Agency told Interfax.
A delegation of the agency recently visited China to meet with colleagues from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and discuss the fulfillment of the cooperation plan for 2006-2010, including satellites to conduct ionospheric research and Earth monitoring.
"The sides confirmed that Ukraine's project IONOSAT and China's seismo-electromagnetic satellite were supplementary. They also said they would exchange information and might even merge the two projects into one," the agency said.
Besides, data, including technical, will be exchanged between the Chinese project Environment-1b and Ukraine's Sich-2.
The delegation invited the Chinese to the first Ukrainian conference on aerospace space research for sustainable development and security (GEO-UA). The conference is due in Kyiv in June 2008.
The sixth meeting of the Ukrainian-Chinese sub-commission on cooperation in space research and peaceful use will take place in Kyiv in June-July.
16 GLONASS satellites to become operational in a week
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian GLONASS global navigation satellite system orbital group will become fully operational in a week.
"All 16 satellites will become fully operational in seven days," Deputy Director General of the Russian Research and Development Institute for Space Instrument-Building Grigory Stupak said addressing a space research meeting at the Bauman Engineering University in Moscow.
"At the present time the GLONASS orbital group includes 16 satellites, with 15 of them fully operational, and one of three spacecraft, lofted on December 25, being prepared to be fielded," Stupak said.
The Russian Federal Space Agency told Interfax-AVN earlier that the GLONASS system would have covered 95% of the Russian territory and 80% of the globe by February 10, 2008.
New-generation GLONASS satellites to be orbited in 2010
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The first Glonass-K spacecraft, boasting a higher signal accuracy and an extended service life, are expected to be orbited in two years.
"The Glonass-K satellite, featuring a service life of ten years, is planned to be lofted in 2010," Deputy Director General of the Russian Research and Development Institute for Space Instrument-Building Grigory Stupak said addressing a space research meeting at the Bauman Engineering University in Moscow.
"In addition to a greater service life the new satellite will be about two-fold lighter as compared with Glonass and Glonass-M satellites currently in orbit, in other words the new satellite will weigh about 750-800 kg," he added.
"Such a weight will allow Glonass-K satellites to be launched by Soyuz-2 LVs and Fregat boosters from the Plesetsk Space Center," Stupak said.
In addition, Glonass-K satellites will have a three- to five-fold greater positioning accuracy as compared with that of Glonass-M spacecraft.
GLONASS signal quality monitoring station to be built in Australia
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian GLONASS signal quality monitoring station will be built in Australia.
"A decision has been adopted to deploy a number of ground-based monitoring stations outside Russia. A memorandum on building such a station in Australia was signed last week," Deputy Director General of the Russian Research and Development Institute for Space Instrument-Building Grigory Stupak said addressing a space research meeting at the Bauman Engineering University in Moscow.
According to him, seven such stations are based in Russia, however, the lack of such stations in the southern hemisphere does not allow experts to monitor GLONASS satellites on a global scale continuously.
Ground-based monitoring stations monitor positioning accuracy of satellites, and report malfunctions if any to the data processing center, which then adjusts satellite signals.
Monitoring stations, deployed in Russia, are situation outside Moscow, Pulkovo, Kislovodsk, Nalchik, Irkutsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and Novosibirsk.
Space Forces plan to revamp orbital force in near future
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Upgraded reconnaissance, communications, navigation, surveying, and mapping spacecraft are expected to be lofted in the near future, Russian Space Forces Commander Colonel General Vladimir Popovkin said.
"Communications satellites, integrated into a single communications system and designed to provide presidential, governmental, regional, and special communications, will account for the lion's share of launches," Popovkin said.
He pointed out that new spacecraft are highly versatile. "A single new spacecraft is capable of substituting for five to six previous-generation satellites. Thus, we have to conducts just one space launch instead of five," he said.
"New defense-related spacecraft feature improved stealth and jamming-proof capabilities," Popovkin emphasized.
According to him, the service life of new satellites is expected to be extended up to seven to ten years.
Contract on delivering Dan-M targets to Russian Defense Ministry to be signed in near future
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - A state contract on delivering Dan-M targets to the Russian Defense Ministry is expected to be signed in the next few months, Director General of the Kazan-based Sokol Design Bureau Alexander Gomzin said.
"The duration of the contract amounts to three years. Dozens of Dan-M targets are planned to be delivered to the Russian Defense Ministry every year," Gomzin told Interfax-AVN at the second international forum "UAVs for the fuel and energy industry." He pointed out that the Russian Defense Ministry was one of the main customers, ordering Dan-M targets.
"Money allocated under the state defense order allow us to conduct research and development, aimed at designing yet more sophisticated targets," Gomzin said.
Commercial financial assets are also invested in the research and development, he said.
A pilot batch of Dan-M targets was manufactured last year, Gomzin stressed.
Tranzas launches Dozor-2 UAV batch into production
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The Dozor-2 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), designed by the Tranzas Company, will undergo service tests.
"A batch of 12 Doroz-2 UAVs, designed to undergo service tests, has been put into production," Tranzas UAV Designer General Gennady Trubnikov told Interfax-AVN at the second international forum "UAVs for the fuel and energy industry."
"Dozor-2 service tests are expected to start in early 2008. If they are a success, the Dozor-2 may be fielded with the Russian Border Guards Service," Trubnikov said.
According to him, a total of three UAVs, featuring replaceable heads, as well as a mobile command and control post will take part in the service tests. The replaceable head can be fitted with an optical TV system, including a high-resolution camera, a high-resolution forward-/side-looking video camera, and a thermal imaging camera.
"The Dozor-2 is equipped with a high-quality video system for night landings," he said.
The Dozor-2 UAV has a takeoff weight of 38 kg, a payload capacity of up to eight kilograms, a length of 2.6 m, a wing span of 4.4 m, a range of up to 1,200 km, a cruising speed of 80-150 km, and an altitude of up to 4,000 m. The Dozor-2 also boasts an endurance of up to ten hours.
Ivchenko engine-building corporation being established in Zaporizhzhya
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The Motor Sich Company and the Ivchenko Progress Design Bureau, Ukraine's large aircraft engine manufacturers based in Zaporizhzhya, will merge to form the Ivchenko Corporation.
"The Ukrainian Justice Ministry has already registered the corporation. It will become operational in 2009. The corporation will give a presentation in about a month," Chairman of the Motor Sich Board of Directors Vyacheslav Boguslaev told Interfax-AVN on Friday.
Commenting on a possibility of integrating the Ivchenko Corporation with Russian engine-building holding companies, Boguslaev noted that even the exact number of such holding companies in Russia was unknown. "We believe that we should integrate only with manufacturers with similar views to build new engines and embark on new developments," he said.
The Motor Sich Company is one of the world's largest aircraft engine manufacturers. It employs 26,400 people, and sells over $300 million's worth of products.
The Zaporizhzhya-based Progress Design Bureau specializes in developing aircraft engines.
Military and Technical Co-operation
Atomstroyexport confirms delivery of 7th shipment of nuclear fuel to Bushehr NPP
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - ZAO Atomstroyexport, the Russian nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly, has confirmed the delivery of the seventh shipment of nuclear fuel to the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran.
"Another delivery of fuel has been completed," Atomstroyexport press secretary Irina Yesipova told Interfax-AVN.
In particular, the company shipped 24 fuel assemblies with the aggregate weight of low-enriched uranium amounting to 17 tonnes.
Nuclear fuel deliveries to the Bushehr power plant started in mid-December 2007 and are to be completed in February 2008. A total of eight shipments of fuel are to be supplied to Bushehr.
The first Iranian nuclear power plant, which is being built by Atomstroyexport, is to operate a 1,000-mWt VVER reactor. In line with an agreement between Russia and Iran, all spent nuclear fuel from Bushehr is to be returned back to Russia.
S-300 air defense systems will soon be put on alert in southern Kazakhstan
ASTANA. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - A unit armed with Russian S-300 missile defense systems will soon be put on alert in Chimkent, South Kazakhstan province, the press service of the Kazakh Defense Ministry said.
Kazakh Defense Minister Danial Akhmetov visited the Chimkent military unit within the framework of his visit to the Chimkent and the Arys garrisons.
"According to Akhmetov, a military town will soon be built in Chimkent. A military unit armed with S-300 air defense systems will be put on alert as well," the press service said in a statement.
Europeans buying Russian fire-fighting helos, amphibians
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Some European countries are willingly buying Ka-32 fire-fighting helicopters and Be-200 amphibious aircraft from Russia, Russian Emergencies Minister Sergey Shoigu told a meeting convened to sum up ministry's results in 2007.
"Portugal is completing the Ka-32 deal, and competitions are under way to supply Be-200s to Serbia, Portugal and Greece," he said, noting that this is clear proof that Russian special-purpose aircraft are in demand in the international market.
He also said that during Q1, 2008 a memorandum would be signed with the European Commission providing for the deployment of a European air squadron.
The squadron is developed to consolidate international efforts to provide aviation support to countries, which do not possess such air capability as Russia. Units of the squadron will be deployed in Russia, Germany and Italy.
First batch of AI-222-25F supercharged engines delivered to China
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Zaporizhzhya-based Motor Sich engine company has started supplies of a supercharged version of AI-222-25F engine to China, company's chairman Vyacheslav Boguslayev told Interfax-AVN.
"About 20 such engines have been delivered to the Chinese clients so far. The first L-15 combat training aircraft are already flying," he said, noting that the AI-222-25F unsupercharged engine, with the thrust of 2,500 kg, propels Russian Yak-130 combat training, mass production of which have started at plants in Nizhny Novgforod and Irkutsk.
"Whereas in the Yak-130 project it is the Moscow Salyut production enterprise that plays the part of the contractor and Motor Sich is the subcontractor, it is vice versa as far as the contract with China is concerned," he added.
The twin-seated L-15 combat trainer is designed to provide advanced training of J-10, J-11, Su-27 and Su-30 pilots, and was developed in a joint efforts of Hongdu Aviation Industry Group, which is a division of Chinese AVIC II, and Russia's Sukhoi design bureau.
Specialists forecast that the sales of L-15 may reach 200 aircraft. The price of one such aircraft is about $15 million. L-15s are intended to be deployed at training airfields of the Chinese Air Force, as well as to be in service of maneuver units and flight schools where they will be used for training purposes.
Two supercharged AI-222-25F engines are expected to be used as the power plant for the L-15, developing 4,000 kg of thrust each. The engines were developed by the Zaporizhzhya-based Ivchenko-Progress design bureau and are mass produced by Motor Sich in cooperation with Salyut.
New Russian piloted spacecraft will appear before 2015
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - An advanced Russian piloted spacecraft should be developed by 2015 at the latest, President of Energia Rocket and Space Corporation Vitaly Lopota says.
"The development of the future Russian piloted spacecraft must be completed by no later than 2015," he said on Tuesday at readings on cosmonautics at the Bauman Technical University in Moscow.
He said the spacecraft will be designed on the basis of an all-body and will be capable of carrying six persons compared to the currently used Soyuz-TMA having a crew of only three.
The main requirements to the future spacecraft are reliability and safety. "The vehicle should guarantee possible crew survival during launch and all stages of the flight," Lopota said.
"The United States, China, India and member-nations of the European Space Agency are now developing new piloted spaceships. We should also be going ahead in this direction," he said.
Earlier Lopota said Energia was considering six designs of future spacecraft. The corporation will chose two and submit them to the Federal Space Agency.
Back-up crew member for flight to ISS announced
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Space Adventures, Ltd., the world's leading space experiences company, announced the name of the back-up crew member of U.S. spaceflight candidate Richard Garriott, who is currently planning a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in October.
According to the official web site, Nik Halik of Australia has been chosen to train as the back-up crew member. Through his participation as a back-up crew member, Nik will experience first-hand how our clients train for spaceflight and he, himself, will be certified as a 'fully-trained cosmonaut' and will be named to an official space mission crew, a distinction that less than 1,000 people have ever had.
"I am thrilled to be chosen as Richard's back-up. I have dreamed of flying to space ever since I was a young boy. I watched recordings of Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon's surface and I vowed to follow," said Nik Halik. "The space station will be my first stop, with my eyes focused on the moon."
Nik Halik, born in Australia to Greek immigrant parents, is the CEO and founder of several companies including Financial Freedom Institute and Money Masters. As an international wealth strategist, he has conducted over 100 'Mind and Wealth Prosperity' conferences globally and mentored investors in maximizing their wealth accumulation. His latest book that will be published and globally released in March 2008, "The Thrillionaire", is an autobiography that also provides astute investment strategies. Mr. Halik is also an adventurer. He has lead expeditions to Antarctica, Africa and the Amazon with his adventure company, ADVENTURE ODYSSEY. Mr. Halik is a mountaineer, having summited several of the highest peaks in the world with an Everest climb planned for 2009. Nik is also an avid stormchaser in the U.S. Midwest's Tornado Alley. He is 38 years-old and resides amongst his homes in the Greek Islands, Morocco and Australia.
Ukraine ships first two AI-25TLSH engines to China
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Ukrainian Motor Sich have delivered to China the first batch of two AI-TLSH engines, designed to propel Chinese combat training aircraft.
"The first two engines were shipped to China free of charge for assessment," Motor Sich's Chairman Vyacheslav Boguslayev told Interfax-AVN, noting that the company continued supplying its Chinese clients with AI-25TLK in large amounts.
"China has intensified its efforts in the market of training and combat training aircraft, including supersonic," he added.
The AI-25TL engine is used by 36 countries to propel L-39 training aircraft of the Czech origin. The AI-25TLK version, featuring a thrust of 1,720 kg, has been selected to replace U.S. TFE-731-2A-2A as a power plant of the Chinese K-8J.
The AI-25TLSH was specifically designed to enable Chinese aircraft builders to improve the performance of their aircraft thanks by installing a more advanced and powerful propulsion unit.
Ukrainian engine manufacturers stepping up engine production for Yak-130
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The Zaporizhzhya-based Motor Sich company is stepping up production of AI-222-25 aircraft engines to be mounted on the Russian Yak-130 combat trainer.
"A total of 30 engines are expected to be manufactured in 2008. In addition, 12 more (spare) engines may be produced, with corresponding negotiations underway," Chairman of the Motor Sich Board of Directors Vyacheslav Boguslaev told Interfax-AVN.
The Moscow-based Salyut Engineering Enterprise has been appointed flagship contractor for producing AI-222-25 engines, while Motor Sich is a subcontractor, Boguslaev pointed out.
Motor Sich and Salyut manufacture AI-222-25 engines on a par. Motor Sich produces gas generators, while Salyut assembles, tests, and ships AI-222-25 engines to the customer, he said.
The AI-222-25 production is quite intensive, since as many as six countries have already expressed their wish to procure Yak-130s.
According to Boguslaev, Motor Sich will manufacture about 60 AI-222-25 engines in 2009.
Ukraine overhauls up to ten D-18T engine for Russian Air Force every year
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The Ukrainian Zaporizhzhya-based Motor Sich Company overhauls six to eight D-18T aircraft engines on an annual basis under contracts with Russia.
"These engines are overhauled for An-124 heavy military air transports in service with the Russian Air Force," Chairman of the Motor Sich Board of Directors Vycheslav Boguslaev told Interfax-AVN.
The Russian Air Force has not yet ordered new D-18T engines, while Russian air carriers have.
The Volga-Dnepr Group has recently signed a contract on D-18T3S production and maintenance, with the engines to be mounted on several An-124-100 aircraft. The Polyot air carrier has also expressed its interest in such engines, Boguslaev said.
The contract envisions a delivery of D-18T3S aircraft engines, boasting an increased takeoff thrust of up to 25 tons.
The D-18T3S aircraft engines is certified in compliance with ICAO noise abatement and pollution requirements, Boguslaev said.
Newly Independent States
Lithuania’s Kaunas Court finds two Soviet secret service agents guilty of genocide
VILNIUS. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The Kaunas District Court in Lithuania found two 78-year-old former officers of the State Security Ministry (MGB) of the USSR guilty of genocide.
"The court sentenced defendant Jurgis Navitskas to eight years in jail," the court told Interfax-AVN.
The second defendant, Jonas Juskauskas, escaped punishment on health grounds.
Earlier, the press service of the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office announced that the investigation had established that both defendants were former agents of the MGB of the USSR and "participated in genocide against members of the anti-Soviet resistance," by killing Lithuanian guerillas 54 years ago.
Juskauskas and Navitskas were accused of killing seven members of the anti-Soviet resistance. The Lithuanian Criminal Code stipulates a five- to twenty-year sentence or life imprisonment for such crimes.
The prosecutor General's Office has announced that more than a hundred criminal cases with elements of crimes against Humanity, as well as military crimes, were under investigation in Lithuania.
Georgia unveils Strategic Defense Review
TBILISI. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia unveiled the public version of its Strategic Defense Review, one of the country's basic defense-related documents.
The strategy was presented by First Deputy Defense Minister Batu Kutelia at Tbilisi's Courtyard Marriott hotel in the presence of ambassadors accredited in Georgia, military attaches, representatives of nongovernmental organizations, journalists and experts.
Kutelia thanked representatives of NATO's international headquarters and nongovernmental organizations for helping draft the document.
The document is the first of its kind, and it is an overview of the country's armed forces, which defines the parameters of the necessary capabilities, uncovers the current shortcomings and shows ways to amend them, Kutelia said. The document sets forth short-, medium- and long-term stages in the restructuring of the armed forces between 2007 and 2015, with due account of political and military forecasts.
Georgian army gradually replacing Kalashnikovs by M4 carbines – deputy foreign minister
TBILISI. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The Georgian army will be fully armed with U.S.-made firearms in the near future, Deputy Defense Minister Batu Kutelia told journalists.
Instead of Russian Kalashnikov assault rifles, Georgian servicemen will be armed with M4 assault carbines, whose characteristics, in the Georgian Defense Ministry's view, are much better than those of Kalashnikovs.
"The American weapons are more expensive, but if you make long-term calculations, the storage and maintenance of these weapons will cost cheaper. You should also consider the problems related to supplies of ammunition for Kalashnikovs," Kutelia saiad.
The Georgian Defense Ministry has already purchased a first shipment of the U.S.-made carbines, he said.
NATO mission will assess Georgia’s readiness for NATO entry
TBILISI. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - A NATO monitoring delegation has arrived in Tbilisi to study the reforms held within the framework of the NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with Georgia.
Members of the divulgation will assess Georgia's fulfillment of obligations undertaken under the IPAP.
This is the third visit of the NATO monitoring delegation over the past two years to Georgia.
"Georgia in fact has implemented the IPAP and is ready to switch to the [Membership Action Plan] MAP that outlines the actions required by a candidate state for NATO membership," Georgian State Minister for European Integration Giorgy Baramidze said.
"Results of the January 5 referendum, according to which about 80% of Georgians spoke in favor of Georgia's membership in NATO, is an important factor," Baramidze said.
CSTO members continue forming anti-drug safety belts around Afghanistan
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The administration of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has prepared a CSTO plan of action to counter trafficking of illicit drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors for 2008-2011.
Organizational and preventive measures include a coordinated conduct of Mak and Doping national preventive operations in the CSTO countries, the CSTO administration told Interfax-AVN on Monday.
"These operations are aimed at elimination of plants used to manufacture illicit drugs and at preventing a leak of narcotic, psychotropic and strong substances from legal distribution," a source said.
"There are also plans to continue forming anti-drug "safety belts" around Afghanistan," he said.
The draft plan involves cooperation in the field of staff training and re-training and the creation of a drug situation analysis and forecast system within the CSTO.
Also, a set of measures is being offered to combat the spread of synthetic drugs.
CSTO consists of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Moscow’s withdrawal from radar station accord is not a tragedy – Kyiv
KYIV. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian State Duma's denunciation of the Russian-Ukrainian governmental agreement on missile-attack warning systems and space control is not an unfriendly act by Moscow or a sign of confrontation in bilateral relations, a high-ranking Ukrainian military officials told Interfax-AVN.
"There is nothing tragic about this decision for Ukraine. It is normal from the point of view of international relations. For instance, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the ABM Treaty of 1972 in 2002," he said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is expecting an official statement from Russia to that effect later in the day.
"Once the statement is received, the further use of Ukrainian radar stations will be discussed by experts. If Russia decides to continue to use the information provided, we will work by the plan this year. Otherwise, Russia won't pay for the services of the radar stations starting from this year," he said.
Retired Soviet OMON police officer extradited to Lithuania
VILNIUS. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Konstantin Nikulin, a retired Soviet OMON police officer, was extradited by Riga to Vilnius.
"A retired OMON officer suspected of involvement in the [1991] Medinikai tragedy, who was detained in Latvia, has been handed over to the [Lithuanian] Prosecutor General's Office," Aurelija Juodyte, the press secretary of the Prosecutor General's Office, told Interfax.
More than a week ago, chief of the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office's Organized Crime Division Algimantas Kliunka told reporters that Nikulin, a retired officer of the Soviet OMON force in Riga, was suspected of involvement in the murder of Lithuanian customs officers and policemen on the night of July 31, 1991, at the Medinikai checkpoint on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border.
Former Riga OMON officers are being considered responsible for the crime. The Lithuanian authorities believe that most of the suspects are hiding in Russia.
Azerbaijan honored by NATO PA’s decision to hold Rose Roth Seminar in Baku
BAKU. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Azerbaijan's Parliament attaches great importance to the upcoming Rose Roth Seminar due to be held by the NATO PA (the Parliamentary Assembly of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in Baku on March 6-8, First Deputy Speaker of Azerbaijan's Parliament Ziyafat Askerov said.
"Azerbaijan sees the decision by NATO PA President Jose Lello and its General Secretary David Hobbs to attend the Rose Roth Seminar in Baku as a special manifestation of respect by NATO toward Azerbaijan," Askerov, who also chairs Azerbaijan's delegation to NATO PA, said on Tuesday.
The NATO PA 68th Rose Roth Seminar will focus on security in the Caspian region.
"Azerbaijan is very important for Europe as a transit country for oil and gas supplies to Euro-Atlantic countries. This is why there is great interest in the Rose Roth Seminar," Askerov said.
During their visit to Azerbaijan NATO PA leaders will be briefed on the reforms in Azerbaijan's army, he also said.
Azerbaijan has been a NATO PA associate member since 2002.
Estonian police will have more powers to suppress riots
TALLINN. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Estonian police published on Tuesday the analysis of events and actions of law enforcement agencies during the 2007 April riots in Tallinn.
"Estonian police did not have any experience for controlling a mass riot situation. They were unable to anticipate and execute a plan to control the situation," a statement obtained by Interfax-AVN says.
Given the situation, police developed organization procedures and it is expected that additional units that can help suppress riots will be formed, the document says. The Estonian Interior Ministry has developed the so-called 'Bronze package' of changes to the legislation. It provides more powers to police officers to suppress mass riots.
Mass riots erupted in Estonia from April 26-28 following the government's decision to exhume the remains of Soviet soldiers buried in a mass grave at Tonismagi Hill and relocate the war memorial from downtown to a military cemetery. Estonia's Russian community saw these actions as an insult to the memory of fallen soldiers and on April 26 several thousand people formed a human chain protesting the dismantling of the monument and the exhumation of the Soviet soldiers' remains.
During the riots, around 1,200 people were detained and around 50 were injured. One Russian citizen, Dmitry Ganin, was killed.
Sukhumi praises UN Ban Ki-moon’s report on Georgian-Abkhaz conflict
SUKHUMI. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba has expressed satisfaction with the key points in UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's latest report on the situation in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict area.
"The problem of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict remains one of the key ones in the world, and it stands to reason that the UN secretary general presents reports on it every three months to the General Assembly and every half a year to the Security Council, which consider the situation in the region and issue a resolution on this problem," Shamba told journalists in Sukhumi on Tuesday.
What is important in the UN secretary general's report is that it says that the "wrong information disseminated by Georgian media and statements by Georgian politicians increase tensions in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict area," Shamba said.
"During the presidential election campaign in Georgia and the elections themselves, Georgian politicians and media shouted to the whole world about mass persecutions of ethnic Georgians in the Gali district by Abkhaz security forces, about arsons of their homes, mining, the introduction of excessive military forces, and a host of other things. However, inspections showed that this all was untrue, and nothing of the sort was reflected in the UN secretary general's report," Shamba said.
The latest report, "in particular, points out that the agreements that were reached at the meeting of the Group of Friends in Bonn on resuming weekly four-sided meetings in the Gali district have still not been put into practice," he said.
"Georgia continues to refuse to take part in such meetings, despite the fact that it has committed itself to doing so," Shamba said.
Ban Ki-moon also said that "Georgia is attempting to revise the peacekeeping activities in the conflict area and that Abkhazia is committed to the existing format and the implementation of the earlier agreements and is categorically against changing the format of the talks and the replacement of the Russian peacekeeping forces," Shamba said.
The establishment of the Reintegration Ministry instead of the Ministry for Conflict Resolution in Georgia will doom the negotiating process, he said.
"We will not have a dialogue with this structure or talk with people representing this new ministry," he said.
Saakashvili, Kokoity may meet to sign documents on conflict settlement – source
TBILISI. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The presidents of Georgia and the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia can only meet after specific documents are prepared for signing, said Temur Yakobashvili, who has been nominated for the post of Georgia's state minister on state integration.
South Ossetia's president Eduard Kokoity has recently asked Russian Ambassador to Georgia Vyacheslav Kovalenko to help organize his meeting with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
"The presidents should take part in the signing of these documents, which should determine the essence of the Georgia-Ossetia conflict settlement. As far as I know, a package of such documents has not been prepared yet," said Yakobashvili.
"Therefore, the idea of such a meting may be good, but this meeting should be prepared because the main thing is to have effective results, not just a meeting for the sake of a meeting," he said.
Former Georgian minister released from custody in France
TBILISI. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Former Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, who was in custody in France, was released on Wednesday and allowed to walk free until a court meets on February 27 to consider his extradition to Georgia, a lawyer said.
"Lawyers were able to prove that Okruashvili has no intention of escaping justice," the ex-minister's lawyer Eka Beselia told Interfax.
A Paris court freed Okruashvili in response to an appeal from his French lawyers. A French family took him into its custody.
Beselia expressed confidence that France would grant asylum to Okruashvili. "It has come home to everyone that Okruashvili is a victim of political persecution on the part of the Georgian government," she said.
U.S., Kazakh officials discuss ways to broaden military ties
ASTANA. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Chairman of the Kazakh Senate's international affairs, defense and security committee Kuanysh Sultanov met with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Central Asia Mitchell Shivers in Astana on Wednesday.
"The parties discussed further ways to broaden cooperation between the Kazakh and U.S. defense agencies," the Kazakh Senate said in a press release.
Sultanov underscored the importance of an equitable partnership between the two countries in promoting peace and strengthening security in Central Asia and added that the Senate supports the state strategy for developing military ties and facilitating trust-building in this area.
"Interaction at the level of Kazakh and U.S. lawmakers will also help raise our strategic partnership to a qualitatively new level," the Kazakh senator was quoted as saying.
Shivers, in turn, highly praised "the role Kazakhstan is playing in promoting peace and stability in Central Asia and thanked Kazakhstan for its contribution to successful peacekeeping operations," the press release reads.
Baku airport officials accused of spying for Russia
BAKU. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Emil Suleimanov, the head of security at Baku Airport, and a National Security Ministry official have been accused of treason, local media reported.
The day before, a court for grave military crimes started preliminary hearings in the case against Suleimanov and a group of former high-ranking officials from the Airport Security Service and Azerbaijan's National Security Ministry. On the dock are Suleimanov, national security official Lt. Col. Rafet Aliyev, and another three airport officials.
They are charged with illegal storage, sale and use of weapon, ammunition and explosives (Article 228), treason (Article 274), breach of the investigative activities law (Article 302), and abuse of office (Article 308).
Suleimanov is charged with passing on a particularly important piece of state information to Russian intelligence services. The defendants are suspected of involvement in the installation of eavesdropping equipment at the government lounge of the airport, where the country's president held meetings with members of the government before leaving the country.
Suleimanov is a former KGB officer. Before beginning work at the airport, he served a senior counterintelligence officer in Azerbaijan's National Security Ministry. Still earlier, he held the same position at the Military Counterintelligence Department.
No official confirmation of the information is so far available to Interfax-Azerbaijan.
Former Georgian Foreign Minister Bezhuashvili appointed intelligence chief
TBILISI. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Former Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili was appointed head of the Intelligence Department on Wednesday evening, Levan Bezhashvili, the head of the parliament legal committee, told journalists.
The Intelligence Department was separated from the national security system following the adoption of the national security concept last year. Since then, it has been an independent institution reporting directly to the president.
Bezhuashvili, 40, started his career at the Georgian Foreign Ministry in the early 1990s. He then served at the Defense Ministry and was defense minister for some time. He also later served as National Security Council secretary.
The opposition claims that Gela Bezhuashvili and his brother, MP David Bezhuashvili, own the Mze television company.
Talks on joint state with Moldova possible - Transdniestrian speaker
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The potential recognition of independent Kosovo will imply the possibility of self-determination for Transdniestria, speaker of the unrecognized republic's parliament Yevgeny Shevchuk said in an interview published in the Thursday issue of the newspaper Kommersant.
"If they recognize that territory and declare that it is the Albanian nation's right to self-determination, a question will arise: why don't Transdniestrian citizens, who also live in Europe and have held independence referenda, have this right?" he said.
Shevchuk did not rule out the formation of a joint state with Moldova.
"We should bear in mind the memorandum of 1997 [on the fundamentals of a normalization between the Republic of Moldova and Transdniestria]. According to that memorandum, Transdniestria assumed the obligation to consider a joint state with Moldova," he said.
"In fact, that document did not say whether it should be a federation, a confederation or a union. Hence, Transdniestria has not rejected that agreement and has never said it is invalid," Shevchuk said.
"We should watch the policy of the Moldovan authorities and see if they are able to resolve the problem of our relations constructively," he said.
"If positive trends develop, tensions will fall. Then we can discuss our future steps," he said.
Record amount of illegal drugs seized in Tajikistan – source
DUSHANBE. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - A record amount of illegal drugs, 517 kilograms, since the country's independence has been seized in south Tajikistan, a source in the country's law enforcement agencies told Interfax on Thursday.
"An operation was conducted to break up an organized crime ring. The drugs are raw opium and heroin," the source said.
The drugs and a number of people involved in trafficking, including several border guards of the National State Security Committee (NSSC), were detained by NSSC officers.
NSSC has neither denied, nor confirmed the information to Interfax.
In 2007, Tajikistan law enforcement agencies seized 5.27 tons of illegal drugs, some 10% more compared to 2006. This included 4.1 tons of opium and heroin.
Tajikistan remains one of the main transit routes for Afghan opium intended for Russia and Western European countries. According to the United Nations, 19% of Afghan opium is shipped via Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, but the bulk of the drugs is shipped via Iran and Pakistan.
The Tajik-Afghan border is 1,344 kilometers long.
Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO won’t affect ties with Russia - minister
KYIV. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Ukraine's wish to pursue cooperation with NATO will have no effect on its relations with Russia, Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ogryzko told the Kyiv meeting of the European Business Association on Thursday.
"I'd like to emphasize that our Euro-Atlantic work cannot and will not influence Ukrainian-Russian relations," he said.
The partnership with Russia is a prerequisite for the successful European and Euro-Atlantic policy of Ukraine, Ogryzko said.
Ukraine will be very practical and target specific results in its relations with NATO this year, he said.
NATO is discussing Ukraine's request for joining the Membership Action Plan, he added.
Suspected terrorist wanted since May 2006 detained in Kyrgyzstan
BISHKEK. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Abdulkhai Yuldashev, a man suspected of being one of the most active members of the extremist Islamic Movement of Turkestan, has been detained in southern Kyrgyzstan.
"Officers from the Batken regional police department detained Abdulkhai Yuldashev, one of the leaders of the Islamic Movement of Turkestan who was involved in attacking a customs checkpoint in the Kadamzhai district of the Batken region in May 2006 and subsequently killing policemen," a local police source told Interfax on Thursday.
Yuldashev was detained in the Osh region.
Following the attack on the customs checkpoint in the Batken region by a group of militants from the Islamic Movement of Turkestan, among them Yuldashev, he was put on the international wanted list and charged in absentia with involvement in terrorist activities and the organization of an illegal armed group, the source said.
Local media said Yuldashev, also known as Artyk, acted as a man authorized by the Islamic Movement of Turkestan's leadership and enjoyed the movement's patronage and financial support.
In May 2006, a group of militants from the Islamic Movement of Turkestan, which had earlier identified itself as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, illegally entered Kyrgyzstan from Tajikistan by attacking a Tajik border checkpoint.
After entering the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan, the attackers, who were moving in two cars, attacked a customs checkpoint and shot and killed a customs officer and a civilian. In the course of an operation to neutralize the group, several Kyrgyz policemen were killed.
Kazakhstan studying U.S. request for more troops in Iraq
ASTANA. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The United States has asked Kazakhstan to send more troops to Iraq, lower house deputy Sat Tokpakbayev said at a Thursday meeting between Kazakh parliamentarians and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Central Asian Affairs Mitchell Shivers in Astana.
"The government is considering the U.S. request for a larger participation by Kazakhstan [in the stabilization operation] in Iraq," he said.
"I must say that it would make a decision with due account of public opinion," the deputy noted.
A Kazakh platoon has been stationed in Iraq since August 2003.
Tokpakbayev is a former defense minister.
NATO evaluators note Georgia’s progress toward integration with alliance
TBILISI. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Early evaluations of Georgia's readiness to join NATO will be made public in a special report in Brussels in late February, said Robert Weaver, who chairs NATO's evaluating mission.
After meeting with Georgian State Minister for European Integration Georgy Baramidze in Tbilisi on Thursday, Weaver told journalists that Georgia has continued reforms on its way to NATO, despite the November events, without delay.
NATO evaluators have been in Georgia since January 28 to determine how the provisions of the Intensive Dialogue Program are being fulfilled as part of the Individual Partnership Action Plan.
Hopefully, Georgia will be accepted into NATO's Membership Action Plan in spring or fall 2008, Baramidze said.
Ukraine consistently advancing towards NATO - Yushchenko
KYIV. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has confirmed the country's European and Euro-Atlantic course.
"Ukraine has been persistently advancing towards its strategic goal of full integration with the European and Euro-Atlantic organizations. A reform of the entire security sector, and effective democratic civil control over special services and law enforcement agencies are important aspects of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration," Yushchenko said in a letter of greetings to the 6th meeting of the Ukraine-NATO working group for democratic civil control in Kyiv.
Yushchenko highly appraised Ukraine's constructive cooperation with NATO.
"Ukraine will meet the world's best security and intelligence standards soon," Yushchenko wrote. "This will allow our country to increase its role in the common fight against the present-day challenges to international security and stability - terrorism, organized crime, corruption, trafficking in humans and illicit weapons and drugs trade," the Ukrainian president said.
U.S., Kazakhstan to sign new 5-year military cooperation plan
ASTANA. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Kazakhstan and the United States Department of Defense are soon going to sign a new five-year plan of bilateral cooperation for 2008-2012, Kazakhstan Defense Ministry's press service said on Thursday
"Today, the Defense Ministry hosted bilateral defense consultations between Kazakhstan and the U.S., which are expected to result in the signing of another five-year military cooperation plan," the ministry said.
Kazakhstan's Deputy Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Bulat Sembinov and U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Mitchell Shivers met in Astana "to sum up the results of the cooperation between Kazakhstan and the U.S. over the past year and to discuss cooperation prospects," the statement said.
Under the first military-technical cooperation plan between the two countries for 2003-2007, the U.S. supplied to Kazakhstan's Armed Forces over 50 Hummer vehicles, two Huey-2 helicopters, and increased the number of Kazakh officers trained at U.S. military schools.
NATO pleased with Ukraine's security reforms
KYIV. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - NATO's International Secretariat has praised Ukraine's reforms in the security sector in compliance with democratic principles.
Representatives of the alliance's secretariat George Katsirdakis and Brigit Austin expressed this point of view during the 6th session of the Ukraine-NATO working group on civic and democratic control in the area of security, which took place in Kyiv on January 30-31 with acting head of the Ukrainian Security Service Valentyn Nalyvaychenko attending.
Ukraine sets an example for the alliance's other partners in the systemic and democratic approach to reforming its security sector, the NATO officials said.
They backed Nalyvaychenko's initiative to hold a Kyiv-hosted conference on the observance of human rights in the security domain. Human rights watchdogs from Ukraine and GUAM member-states as well as other international nongovernmental organizations will be invited to take part in the forum.
Participants in the session discussed a Ukraine-NATO security cooperation plan for 2008 approved by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko with emphasis on the fight against international terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking.
U.S. to pay over $17Mln in rent for military base in Kyrgyzstan
BISHKEK. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Kyrgyzstan will receive $17.5 million in 2008 for the land leased by the coalition forces' airbase in the country.
"In accordance with the Kyrgyz-U.S. intergovernmental agreement on the leasing of the air base at Manas Airport in Bishkek, the United State must pay annual rent of $17.5 million into the Kyrgyz budget," the country's Finance Minister Tajikan Kalimbetova told Interfax on Friday.
In 2007, the U.S. paid Kyrgyzstan "$4.3 million more because they owed that amount for 2006, which they did not pay then," she said.
"In 2008 and during subsequent years the Kyrgyz budget will receive $17.5 million each year," the minister said.
"This money is being paid only for the lease of the land where the air base is located," she said. "Besides, the base has an agreement with the Manas Airport, whereby they pay for additional services, the airport pays taxes," Kalimbetova said.
The Kyrgyz-U.S. agreement on the deployment of the airbase of anti-terrorist coalition forces at Manas Airport was signed in late 2001. The airbase provides support for the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan. It mostly hosts the U.S. military. The base is located in an area adjacent to the airport, and military transport airplanes are deployed on the runway at Manas airport.
Moldova will not join NATO – Voronin
CHISINAU. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Moldova does not plan to join NATO, though bilateral cooperation has been beneficial, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said.
"We simply cannot afford not to work with NATO, because Moldova is a neighbor of the EU. We are inevitably subjected to all NATO activities, because we are situated at the border. However, this does not mean that we are going to join this organization," Voronin said in an interview with the Chisinau Observer newspaper on Thursday.
Moldova's cooperation with NATO is beneficial and has allowed to dispose of 18,000 tonnes of pesticides, the president said.
Speaking about the Transdniestrian settlement, Voronin noted that Russia, in general, agrees with his proposed confidence-building initiatives between Chisinau and Tiraspol.
"Russia wants to be sure that Moldova will maintain its neutral status in the future," the Moldovan president said, adding that his country was also interested in long-term neutrality.
There are "no secret Transdniestrian settlement plans," Voronin said, adding that the main obstacles to the resolution of the conflict are the "chauvinists and unionists on both banks of the Dniester River."
Hand grenade explodes in central Dushanbe: no victims
DUSHANBE. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - An F-1 hand grenade exploded in central Dushanbe within 50 meters of City Hall on Friday morning.
Nobody was killed, Tajikistan's Interior Ministry chief of staff Khaidar Makhmadiyev told journalists on the scene.
Police have sealed off the area, officers and forensic experts are working at the scene.
All theories will be investigated, including that of a terrorist attack, Makhmadiyev said. "However, this looks more like hooliganism," he said.
Sources in law enforcement also tell Interfax privately that it is highly unlikely that the incident was a terrorist attack.
Lukashenko praises interaction between control bodies of Russia, Belarus
MINSK. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has given high marks to the level of interaction between the Belarusian State Control Committee and the Russian Audit Chamber.
"It is good that we once established close contacts between our control bodies. It helps us not only to use each other's experience, but the main thing is that we can now control our high trade turnover and the economic relations between the countries and companies," Lukashenko said during a meeting with Russian Audit Chamber chief Sergei Stepashin in Minks on Friday.
Lukashenko believes it is important, because "Russia is a priority market for us and we will be present there for a long time."
At the same time, "not everyone is so honest as we would like them to be" in Belarusian-Russian economic relations yet, said Lukashenko. The control bodies are looking for "corruption and violations of the law," he said. "These are very important areas of our work," said Lukashenko.
Stepashin, in turn, said that the Belarusian State Control Committee and the Russian Audit Chamber have a wonderful relationship. "There is no audit chamber for the Union State yet, but we have assumed the functions of controlling the use of the Union State's funds," he said. "We have brought order into this area," said Stepashin, adding that "until recently there was serious abuses."
Stepashin believes cooperation between the Belarusian State Control Committee and the Russian Audit Chamber plays an important role in ensuring the effective use of Union State funds. He believes it is unacceptable that "17-18% of the funds are returned, unused." In this connection, "we have assumed obligations to study the problem, why these funds are not being used, which agencies are to blame for that, and why union programs take 2-4 years to discuss," said Stepashin.
Stepashin said that the two countries' control bodies intend to "closely monitor the fulfillment of all of the 21 union programs."
Stepashin also told Lukashenko that the two countries' control bodies intend to submit proposals to the customs services of the two countries at a meeting of the joint collegium, which is scheduled for February 14.
New department at Georgian FM has mission to improve relations with Russia –Saakashvili
TBILISI. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The Georgian Foreign Ministry will set up a new department for Russia, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Friday while introducing new Foreign Minister David Bakradze to the foreign ministry staff.
"The Department for Russia must be a special department. It will work with Russia to improve relations between the two countries," Saakashvili said.
He introduced Giya Vashadze as the head of the new department.
Vashadze is an experienced diplomat who worked in the Soviet Foreign Ministry, Saakashvili said.
Recognition of Kosovo’s independence will put Georgia in difficult situation - Saakashvili
TBILISI. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has voiced fears over the possible recognition of Kosovo's independence, saying that it could put his country in a difficult situation as it struggles to regain control over its breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"Georgia is at a difficult position as regards the recognition of Kosovo's independence, which is due to start very soon," Saakashvili said on Friday, while introducing new Foreign Minister David Bakradze to the ministry's staff.
"This process can cause serious problems for Georgia, but our country is used to dealing with such difficulties, which only make it even stronger, but this is only possible if every member of the public realizes that he is a soldier who will save his country," he said.
Saakashvili asks ombudsman to head property commission
TBILISI. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has announced the establishment of a special commission meant to tackle issues related to confiscated property and has asked Georgian ombudsman Sozar Subari to head it.
"It is important for us that the commission scrutinizes all cases objectively. That is why prosecutors, politicians and opposition leaders should serve in it," Saakashvili said at a meeting with Subari and new Georgian Prosecutor General Eka Tkeshelashvili on Thursday.
Property should not be taken away from any person illegally and the public should be aware of the commission's fair decisions, the president said, noting that guaranteeing the rights of Georgian citizens will be one of the main goals of his second presidential term.
The activity of the established commission is directed to the future, Subari said. However, the commission should return to some past cases in which confiscation decisions were unfair, the ombudsman said.
Kazakhstan, U.S. adopt new plan for military, technical cooperation
ASTANA. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Kazakhstan and the U.S. have adopted a new plan of military and technical cooperation for 2008-2012.
The document was signed on Friday in Astana following consultations between the defense departments of the two nations, the Kazakh defense ministry said.
"This plan is an important stage of deepening military cooperation aimed to implement national plans to transform the Kazakh Armed Forces, increase their peacekeeping potential, develop the domestic system of military education and training, as well as to supply modern military equipment," it said.
Trouble Spots
Saakashvili suggests expanding peacekeepers’ mandate in conflict zones
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The format of the peacekeeping operations in South Ossetia and Abkhazia must be reviewed, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said.
"We do not want to oust Russian peacekeepers, we want to expand the mandate, make it more efficient," Saakashvili told Ekho Moskvy radio.
"Any format that will help refugees return home, including Russians, is acceptable to us. What is important is whether we will be able to get people to return home," he said.
"When Russian peacekeepers came with their mandate, they promised the return of refugees within a week: however, that week has stretched to 14 years now," he said.
"If Russia itself is unable to resolve these issues unilaterally, then the mandate needs to be reviewed and expanded in order to obtain results," Saakashvili said. "If Russia shows a constructive position, then international foreign forces could join the process," he said.
"For me any peacekeeper who will help people return home and handle all issues peacefully is acceptable," Saakashvili said.
S. Ossetian settlement initiatives will promote peace in conflict zone - Russian diplomat
MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia thinks it is vital that Georgia and breakaway South Ossetia promptly sign an agreement on the rejection of the use of force.
"We find it vital that the conflicting sides sign a binding agreement on the rejection of the use of force. Russia's approach on this issue is well-known," Foreign Ministry representative Mikhail Kamynin told Interfax-AVN.
Kamynin said Moscow fully welcomes the initiatives of South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity related to the peaceful settlement implying, among other things, the demilitarization of the conflict zone, confidence-building measures, the economic rehabilitation of the conflict zone, and the discussion of the political status of the breakaway territory.
Kamynin added that Russia regards Kokoity's proposals "as a highly timely gesture of goodwill indicating Tskhinvali's determination to resume and intensify a meaningful political dialogue with Tbilisi."
"We are convinced that such a dialogue would promote peace in the conflict zone and bring its final settlement closer," he said.
Georgian ministerial candidate calls for direct dialogue with Sukhumi, Tskhinvali
TBILISI. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia should change its approach toward the settlement of conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, with the emphasis placed on the reintegration of Abkhazes and Ossetians into united Georgian society, said Temur Yakobashvili, a candidate for Georgian state minister for reintegration.
"Not only should we restore Georgia's territorial integrity and return refugees to their homes, but we also need to return Abkhazes and Ossetians into our unified society," Yakobashvili said at a sessions in parliamentary committees, whose members considered his possible appointment to the ministerial position.
The so-called 'people's diplomacy' should be employed and international donors should be invited to facilitate the settlement of humanitarian problems in the conflict regions, he said.
Europe, the U.S., and Russia could act as guarantors of the Abkhazes' and Ossetians' interests after their reintegration, he said.
"However, the primary emphasis should be placed on direct dialogue with the de facto Abkhaz and South Ossetian authorities," he said.
The position to which Yakobashvili is aspiring was earlier called state minister for conflict settlement and was occupied by David Bakradze, who is expected to become Georgian foreign minister soon.
After candidates for ministerial positions are considered by parliamentary committees, a new composition of the Georgian government should be submitted to the parliament for endorsement on Tuesday, January 29.
Peacekeepers report unlawful Georgian fortification works in South Ossetia
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia has continued unlawful fortification works in the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict zone, the command of the Combined Peacekeeping Forces in the conflict zone stated.
"Engineering works to build a concealed firing position and a trench near a bridge over the Liakhvi River [western suburbs of the village of Kemereti] and to improve a Georgian police checkpoint situated near the Pauk (Spider) peacekeeping checkpoint near the village of Achabeti were exposed on Tuesday during surveillance conducted by military observers of the Combined Peaking Forces and a representative of an OSCE mission," Yury Vereshchak, aide to the commander of the Combined Peacekeeping Forces in the Georgia-South Ossetian conflict zone, told Interfax-AVN by phone from Tskhinvali.
"The peacekeeping command notes that the fortification of unlawful police checkpoints in Georgia in the conflict zone is a blatant violation of existing agreements and provoke similar actions on the part of South Ossetia," Vereshchak said.
Border
Customs post begins to work at Russian-Polish border in Kaliningrad
KALININGRAD. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Polish customs officers have resumed their work at the Kaliningrad portion of the Russian-Polish border, spokesperson for the Kaliningrad Railways Alexander Pershin told Interfax-AVN.
"The Polish side officially notified on Sunday that Polish customs officers resumed offering services to all transports at the Russian-Polish border. A train running from Kaliningrad to Gdynia with a car running from Kaliningrad to Berlin will be serviced at first," Pershin said.
The train, which was unable to reach its destination yesterday, will leave today, he said. Passengers were forced to spend over 24 hours in Kaliningrad, he said.
The end of a strike of Polish customs officers will allow to resume the movement of cargo trains through the border, he said.
Japanese fishing boats could return home on Friday
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian border guards will hand over to their Japanese colleagues the captains of the fishing boats detained in Russia's territorial waters on February 1.
"The Japanese are now deciding which vessel will take the captains," the Sakhalin Border Department of the Russian Federal Security Service Coastal Guard told Interfax-Far East on Thursday.
"The Japanese trawlers were arrested by Sakhalin Customs officers on administrative charges and are in our custody at the port of Malokurilskoye on Shikotan Island," he said.
The Japanese captains lawyer, Vladimir Chumachenko, who represented them at the Yuzhno-Kurilsky District Court, said his clients paid the fines imposed by the court.
It was reported earlier that on January 16, 2008, the court found captains Masahiro Mori, Keidzi No, Nagaoka Itsuo and Sigemi Fudzimoto guilty of illegally crossing the Russian border. The court fined each captain 100,000 rubles and ruled that the trawlers be returned to their owners.
On December 13, 2007, the border guards detained four Japanese trawlers in the Straight of Kunashir (south of Kunashir Island) in Russia's territorial waters. The Japanese vessels are not on the list of trawlers allowed to fish in Russia's South Kurils area under inter-governmental agreements, which was why they were arrested.
Fishing captains held near Kurils handed over to Japan
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - An operation to hand over the captains of Japanese fishing boats detained in Russia's territorial waters to Japanese border guards was completed near Southern Kuril Islands at 4.30 p.m. local time (9:30 Moscow time).
The operation took about 30 minutes, Vladimir Nosov, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, told Interfax.
"The Hokuo-maru vessel of the Hokkaido department of the Japanese Fisheries Agency arrived in the area of the handover. A representative of the Japanese Foreign Ministry signed a transfer act of Japanese citizens. No claims were presented to the Russian side," Nosov said.
The Japanese fishing captains will arrive in port of Hanasaki, Hokkaido at 11.30 Moscow time, the diplomat said.
A Russian border guard vessel and Hokuo-maru met in the southern part of the Southern Kuril Strait at the dividing line between Russia and Japan near the Kunashir Island.
On January 16, 2008, the Yuzhno-Kurislky district court found Masahiro Mori, the captain of the No 38 Yuko-maru, No Keidji, the captain of the No 31 Kichijo-maru, Itsuo Nagaoka, the captain of the No 38 Tsubasa-maru, and Fujimoto Sigemi, the captain of the No 31 Hoyu-maru, guilty of illegal crossing of the Russian border. The court imposed a fine of 100,000 rubles on each of them and ordered to return the fishing boats to their owners. The captains have paid the fines.
Russian border guards detained four Japanese boats in the Strait of Kunashir in Russia's territorial waters on December 13, 2007. The boats belong to a fishing cooperative enterprise from the town of Rausu, Hokkaido. The vessels were held, as they were not on the list of fishing boats allowed to catch fish near the Southern Kurils Islands under Russian-Japanese intergovernmental agreements. The Japanese side submits such lists to Russia every year.
Foreign Military Review
Vilnius says U.S. NMD in Poland, Czech Republic would benefit Europe, Russia
VILNIUS. Jan 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Lithuania Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas backed the proposed plan to deploy elements of U.S. missile defense in the Czech Republic and Poland.
"The location of elements of the U.S. missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland will enhance the level of security in the region and in the whole of Europe, Russia included," Lithuanian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Daiva Rimasauskaite quoted Vaitiekunas as saying.
The Lithuania foreign minister visited Prague last week.
While in talks with his Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg, Vaitiekunas said that, "this U.S. missile defense system will be dovetailed with a plan to form a NATO missile defense system," according to Rimasauskaite.
The Lithuanian and Czech foreign ministers also reached an agreement that Europe would give greater emphasis to the policy of an Eastern neighborhood, and underscored the significance of shaping a uniform foreign policy for the EU. The foreign ministers discussed preparations for a forum on nuclear energy to be held in Prague in May.
China for int’l accord directed against militarization of space
BEIJING. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - China has advocated the creation of a legal base directed against the militarization of space, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Jiang Yu said at a briefing on Tuesday.
China "has consistently spoke in favor of peaceful use and against the militarization of outer space and against an arms race in space," as well as for the creation of a relevant legal base," Jiang said when asked to confirm whether Russia and China are preparing an international agreement on the subject.
"The conference in Geneva will last until March," the spokesperson said.
Poland backs Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO – Sikorski
KYIV. Jan 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Poland fully backs Ukraine's aspiration to join NATO, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said.
"I would like to confirm that Poland constantly upholds Ukraine's Euroatlantic aspirations," Sikorski told a news conference after a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Ohryzko thanked his Polish counterpart for the support Poland offers for Ukraine's European and Euroatlantic aspirations.
The possibility of a visit by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to Ukraine in the near future was discussed at the meeting, Ohryzko said. "We would like such a visit to take place in the next few days," he said.
Sale of cemetery with Soviet war graves in Hungary a mistake – diplomat
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The recent sale of a cemetery in a Hungarian village with World War II Soviet military graves is the result of a bureaucratic mistake, and the new owner has promised to leave the graves intact, a Hungarian diplomat said.
"The large territory of a former state farm was on sale. The territory was split up and it turned out that there was a cemetery there where Soviet soldiers and several Hungarians were buried. It was only the other day that it turned out that an orchard and the cemetery were under the same number in the land register," Laszlo Ovari, a counselor at the Hungarian Embassy in Russia, told Interfax.
"The new owner has already promised he won't do anything with the graves, he is aware of his duty and wishes to guard [Soviet soldiers'] memory, and also expects financial assistance from the authorities," Ovari said.
North Korea nuke talks won’t resume before March – source
BEIJING. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - China believes the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue will not resume before March 2008, a Chinese source told Interfax.
"If we look at the situation realistically, the next round of negotiations or a meeting of delegations cannot be expected before the end of March 2008," said the source.
The source said that North Korea was putting the blame for "dragging out negotiations fully on the Bush administration, whose position does not indicate an honest desire to achieve progress in the six-party talks before the presidential elections in the U.S."
"The main reason for the delay in the meeting between the heads of the delegations in the talks is the clear unwillingness of the U.S. to fulfill its obligations in accordance with the agreements on the second stage of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula using the formula 'action in response to action,'" said the source.
In-depth analysis on Russian markets and industries
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Issued in 2007
§ Russia's Oil Sector in 2006. Publication date: March 2007
§ Russian Coal Industry in 2006. February 2007
§ Russia's Retail Market in 2006 - A Comprehensive Insight. January 2007
Issued in 2006
§ Russia's Construction Sector in 2005-2006 - A Comprehensive Insight. December 2006
§ Russia's Timber, Woodworking, Pulp and Paper Industry in 2005-2006. December 2006
§ Russia's Economy: Comparative Profitability Of Industries, Sub-sectors, Major Enterprises in 2005.
November 2006
§ Russia's Seaports in 2005-2006. September 2006
§ Russia's Airline Industry in 2005-2006. September 2006
§ Russian Markets for Goods and Services: Top Performers in H1 2006- Insight. August 2006
§ Russia's Non-Ferrous Metals Industry in 2005-2006. August 2006
§ Russia's Gas Industry in 2005-2006. July 2006
§ Russia's Gold Industry in 2005-2006. June 2006
§ Russia's Automotive Industry in 2005-2006. May 2006
§ Russia's Agriculture in 2005. May 2006
§ Russia’s Ferrous Metals Sector in 2005. April 2006
§ Russia's Oil Sector in 2005. March 2006
§ Russia's Retail Market in 2005 - A Comprehensive Insight. January 2006
Issued in 2005
§ Russia's Chemical and Petrochemical Industry in 2004-2005. November 2005
§ Major Russian Holdings: Reshaping Business Strategy. October 2005
§ Russia's Non-Industrial Sectors: Comparative Profitability of Sectors, Sub-sectors, Major Enterprises in 2004. September 2005
§ Russia's Industry: Comparative Profitability of Sectors, Sub-sectors, Major Enterprises in 2004. August 2005
§ Russia's Timber, Woodworking, Pulp and Paper Industry in 2004-2005. August 2005
§ Russia's Construction Sector - A Comprehensive Insight. June 2005
§ Russia's Non-Ferrous Metals Industry in 2004-2005. May 2005
§ Russia's Automotive Industry in 2004-2005. May 2005
§ Russia's Ferrous Metals Sector in 2004. March 2005
§ Russia's Oil Sector in 2004. February 2005
§ Russia's Retail Market in 2004 - A Comprehensive Insight. January 2005
Issued in 2004
§ Russia's Industry: Comparative Profitability of Sectors, Sub-sectors, Major Enterprises. November 2004
§ Russia's Agriculture in 2003-2004. October 2004
§ Russia's Chemical and Petrochemical Industry in 2003-2004. September 2004
§ Russia's Automotive Industry in 2003-2004. August 2004
§ Major Russian Holdings: Rivals and Partners (Structure, Strategy, Cooperation And Competition). July 2004
§ Russia's Non-Ferrous Metals Industry in 2003-2004. June 2004
§ Russia's Real Estate Market: Key Drivers, Segments, Construction Sector Trends. May 2004
§ Russia's Timber, Woodworking, Pulp and Paper Industry in 2003. April 2004
§ Russia's Ferrous Metallurgy in 2003. March 2004
§ Russia's Telecommunications in 2003. March 2004
§ Russian Oil Industry in 2003. February 2004
§ Major Russia's Holdings, Groups and Alliances. January 2004
Issued in 2003
§ Russia’s Retail Market - A Comprehensive Insight. December 2003
§ Russia’s Mineral Fertilizers Industry in 2002-2003. November 2003
§ Russia’s Construction Sector in 2003 - A Comprehensive Insight. October 2003
§ Belarus's Telecommunications Sector. October 2003
§ Kyrgyzstan’s Telecommunications Sector. October 2003
§ Uzbekistan’s Telecommunications Sector. October 2003
§ Kazakhstan’s Telecommunications Sector. September 2003
§ Russia’s Market for Alcoholic Beverages and Beer in 2002-2003. August 2003
§ Russia’s Dairy Industry in 2002. July 2003
§ Russia's Meat-Processing Industry. July 2003
§ Russia’s Non-Ferrous Metals Industry in 2002. June 2003
§ Russia's Telecommunications in 2002. June 2003
§ Russia’s Ferrous Metallurgy in 2002. April 2003
§ Russia’s Construction Sector in 2002. April 2003
§ Russian Oil Companies in 2002. March 2003
§ Russia’s Major Holdings, Groups and Alliances (Structure and Key Companies). Part 2. February 2003
Issued in 2002
§ Russia’s Retail Trade: New Trends, New Players, Growth Potential. December 2002
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